ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to critically assess whether the concerns of the poorest, particularly in Africa, have been taken sufficiently into account in the formulation of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and, flowing from this, the prospects and possibilities for achieving an outcome to the round that is tailored more appropriately to the challenges confronting Africa. Geographically the focus is confined to sub-Saharan Africa since North African countries are closely linked to the European economic sphere and are culturally distinct. Accordingly we begin by setting out in broad terms the contours of sub-Saharan African development challenges. Throughout we relate those challenges to the outlines of the multilateral trading system. We then turn to the DDA itself. We highlight the main features of the DDA package from our sub-Saharan standpoint, and address gaps in it as highlighted in the preceding discussion of development challenges in relation to the multilateral trading system. This sets the scene for a brief discussion of the potential for plurilateral agreements to transcend the impasse in the World Trade Organization (WTO); we discuss investment as one potential investment plurilateral in order to illuminate the issues at stake. We conclude with some thoughts about what needs to be done in and beyond the DDA in order to better address African development challenges through the multilateral trading system.
