If the developments at the just-concluded African Union (AU) ministerial conference on World Trade Organisation talks are anything to go by, there is a real danger of failure to conclude ongoing Doha round of free trade negotiations. In the words of WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, the refusal by the big players - the European Union, the United States, Brazil and India - "to make real offers that can facilitate the signing of an agreement" is to blame for the stalemate.