The WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stressed that regional and world trade can “greatly” benefit the whole continent, and also pointed out African nations must carry out internal reforms aimed at improving business environment and financial conditions.

Speaking at the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Tunis, DG Okonjo-Iweala noted that Africa is a large, growing and – thanks to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) – increasingly integrated market of over 1.4 billion consumers and entrepreneurs.

DG Okonjo-Iweala urged global solidarity with Africa in the form of financial support and debt restructuring but also by encouraging investment and improving trading conditions, including through free trade agreements and special and differential treatment.

COVID-19 pandemic has set Africa back several decades on poverty reduction, education, and job creation and brought back familiar problems related to debt distress, she said.

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