On the sidelines of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), an op-ed from the Think Do Tank ‘The Okwelians’ calls on the African states present to better organize themselves to increase the continent’s weight in global trade.
Released on the eve of the opening of the proceedings, the op-ed signed by Dr. Faty Mandou and Thierry Roland Tabi, both researchers within The Okwelians’ LaB’, proposes a critical reading of Africa’s place in global trade.
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It emphasizes that its low weight at the WTO is due less to a lack of resources than to a lack of coordination and strategic preparation. “It is not in our genes nor in our geography that the cause of our commercial marginalization lies. It is in our choices,” the authors write.
The op-ed also puts forward operational paths, notably on the protection of endogenous knowledge within the framework of TRIPS, the strengthening of regional integration, and the need to better involve the private sector in negotiating positions.
As host country and chair of this MC14, Cameroon finds itself at the center of this dynamic. While the op-ed is not official, “it contributes to structuring the African debate at a key moment in the discussions,” said Pierre Thibault Bata, a researcher at The Okwelians’ LaB’, this Friday morning on a morning show on Radio Equinoxe.
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The document also states that “Africa does not have little power because it has few resources […] it has little because it too often arrives without preparation, without a coalition, and without conviction.”
However, at the end of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference, it remains to be seen whether this proposal signed by The Okwelians will translate into more coordinated African positions in the ongoing negotiations.
It should be noted that The Okwelians is a Think Do Tank that promotes a culture of social innovation in Cameroon. Co-founded by business lawyer Jacques Jonathan Nyemb, this think do tank was listed among the 100 think tanks to watch in 2025 according to the On Think Tank organization.
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