Et si l'Europe protectionniste se mettait enfin en conformité avec ses prétentions humanistes vis-à-vis du continent africain ?
Africa's economic difficulties have been aggravated by Western countries that spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year supporting their farmers. Developing countries argue that those subsidies undercut the competitive advantage of one of their main revenue sources.
The Hong Kong meeting is expected to make some progress on an outline for a new global trade treaty by the end of 2006.
African countries are unhappy with progress made at the trade talks, arguing that their need for access to lucrative Western markets has been neglected as they are being pushed to further open up their markets.
The growing global trade had not benefited developing countries, Zanzibar's President Amani Abeid Karume said while opening the trade meeting.
"To the contrary, the market share of Sub-Saharan African countries has declined from about 5 per cent in the 1970s to less than 2 per cent today," said the leader of the semiautonomous region of Tanzania.
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