When people talk about the World Trade Organization, they often imagine a room full of seasoned negotiators, ministers, and technical experts shaping rules that most of the world never sees but almost everyone feels. That picture is not wrong, it is only incomplete. What is less visible in those rooms is that the outcomes being negotiated are not only about present-day trade flows; they are also about who gets to participate in the global economy tomorrow. ALSO READ: Trade, state, and society – Part I: The historical fault line That tension between present decision-making and future consequences became much clearer during my time as a WTO Young Trade Leader, particularly through engagements in Geneva, including a joint workshop organised by the WTO and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Across sessions with experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNCTAD, and the WTO, a recurring idea emerged in different forms that trade policy is ultimately about people, not just markets. ALSO READ: Trade, state, and society – Part II: immigration, populism, and the future of the transatlantic order The ILO and UNCTAD session framed this most directly. It pushed us to move beyond a trade-centred lens and ask a more uncomfortable question, like, does participation in global trade actually translate into decent work and improved living standards? This matters because it is easy to celebrate rising trade volumes while overlooking whether workers, especially young workers, are benefiting from that growth. ALSO READ: Trade, state, and society – Part III: Africa at the crossroads What stood out across these discussions is not only the scale of opportunity within the global trading system, but also the growing risk of exclusion embedded within it. Digital trade, climate-related trade measures, and shifting industrial policies are reshaping global economic rules at the same time. Yet the countries and communities least represented in shaping these rules are often those most exposed to their consequences. ALSO READ: Africa’s trade future in a fractured global economy This also highlights an encouraging shift in how the global trading system is evolving. In trade diplomacy, technical arguments and legal precision remain essential, but they are rarely sufficient on their own. Trust plays a decisive role in whether agreements are possible and sustainable. Understanding where different actors are coming from, recognising their constraints, and appreciating the political realities they operate within often matters as much as the formal positions they present. Increasingly, institutions such as the WTO are recognising that building this trust requires engaging not only governments, but also the societies they ultimately serve. ALSO READ: Why Africa must embrace global trade and innovation It is in this context that the question of youth participation becomes unavoidable. In Africa, more than 60 percent of the population is under 25. Young people are therefore not a distant or emerging stakeholder group; they already represent the majority of current and future economic actors. They are building digital enterprises, engaging in informal cross-border trade, and experimenting with new forms of economic activity that frequently move faster than policy frameworks can adapt. Encouragingly, initiatives such as the WTO Young Trade Leaders Programme demonstrate a growing commitment to ensuring that young voices are not merely observers of these conversations, but active contributors to them. Yet there remains an opportunity to broaden and deepen these pathways for engagement. This recognition informed my decision to establish the Young Trade Society, a platform designed to connect students, young professionals, and entrepreneurs with trade policy more practically and continuously. The underlying idea is that if trade shapes the structure of our economies, young people should not only be informed about it, but they should also be organised within it in ways that allow them to contribute meaningfully. What becomes clear is not that the global trading system is failing. Rather, it is adapting to a rapidly changing world while making deliberate efforts to become more inclusive. The agenda of trade has expanded significantly, moving beyond tariffs and market access to include labour standards, digital transformation, climate policy, and industrial development. If young people are meaningfully included in these processes, trade can function as more than a technical or legal framework. It becomes a development instrument that reflects the realities of a changing global economy and equips the next generation to help shape it. The future of trade is already being negotiated. The question is not whether young people will be affected by its outcomes. The question is whether they will seize the opportunity to help write them. The writer is a 2025 WTO Young Trade Leader and Founder of the Young Trade Society.
