#5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION, AND HOW AFRICA CAN LEVERAGE ON THIS OPPORTUNITY

Africa is leading the World Trade Organisation, and there is no better time to really understand what the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is all about. This will give you a better understanding of how Africa can leverage this opportunity to build a more prosperous and peaceful continent. 

1. The WTO helps countries negotiate trade barriers, especially where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have helped to open markets for trade.
2. The WTO is not just about opening markets, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers — for example, to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease.
3. The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible — so long as there are no undesirable side effects — because this is important for economic development and well-being.
4. The WTO ensures that individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. 
5. Trade relations often involve conflicting interests. The WTO settles these differences through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation.

In conclusion, there are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.

Source: World Trade Organisation