WTO fixes date for main assembly in Cameroon in early 2026

GENEVA (Reuters) – World Commerce Group members agreed on Monday to carry the following ministerial convention in Cameroon in early 2026, the worldwide commerce watchdog stated in an announcement.

The WTO holds such conferences each two years the place commerce ministers from across the globe collect to attempt to attain offers to set or replace new commerce guidelines.

Cameroon’s ambassador Salomon Eheth advised a WTO assembly in Geneva he hoped the occasion scheduled from March 26-29, 2026 could be a possibility to indicate the world the potential of Cameroon and Africa for funding and sustainable growth, the WTO assertion stated.

Analysts count on the street forward for the three-decade-old WTO will probably be difficult, probably characterised by commerce wars with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White Home on Jan. 20.

The organisation has struggled to conclude negotiations in latest months and its final assembly in Abu Dhabi in February achieved solely minimal leads to negotiations the place all 166 of the physique’s members should agree by consensus.

WTO Director-Common Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was re-appointed in November for a second time period, stated in a Geneva assembly final week that negotiators wanted a recent strategy to negotiations in an effort to break the present impasse.

“We should concentrate on delivering outcomes wherever and every time attainable,” the previous Nigerian finance minister stated. “Negotiating within the 2020s requires a extra dynamic strategy, one the place every space is taken into account by itself deserves, permitting us to make progress throughout the board.”