Africa in the First Decade of WTO Dispute Settlement

African countries have largely been absent as players at theWTO dispute settlement system in its first decade. In recentliterature, this has been attributed to a number of factors,among them, the low volume of trade with an export base oftencharacterized by single unprocessed commodities, a complicatedand expensive dispute settlement system, inadequate legal expertiseand a less litigious approach to possible disputes particularlywhen major trading and donor partners are involved. By showinghow and to what extent African countries have participated inGATT and WTO disputes, as well as in the DSU review negotiationsand other related processes, the present article argues thatthis weak participation by large sections of the WTO membershipis a danger to the long-term "predictability" function of theWTO, and could undermine the usefulness of the entire processeventually. It closes with various proposals on how the problemmay be addressed.