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« A renewed growth model and development paradigm for Africa »

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10
9:00 am April 2019

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10
1:00 pm April 2019
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Workshop by invitation, Paris

Africa is endowed with incredible natural and human resources, as well as great cultural, ecological, and economic diversity. Although the continent has enjoyed numerous economic advances in recent years, many Africans still expect greater economic opportunities than they are currently obtaining. Despite a rapidly rising population - which will represent a quarter of the global population by 2050 - the African continent grew at an average annual rate of 4.7% between 2000 and 2017. This level of growth has so far been insufficient to trigger fundamental structural changes, while failing to create enough decent jobs, with 282 million people currently working in unstable employment.

Regional and global markets offer several opportunities for new and stronger growth patterns. Deepening regional integration and regional value chains in Africa can provide sizable opportunities for diversifying exports. The new continental free trade area (CFTA) – initially signed by 44-member states of the African Union – offers an important stepping-stone for policy action. In a context where regional integration is building momentum, this workshop aims to present the state of African economies and discuss the how African countries can accelerate productivity growth and sustain broader global economic prosperity.

Discussions will explore African economies’ priorities and policy implications in the context of rising youth population, rapid urbanization, technological change and digitalization. It will convene several experts and high-level senior officials to participate in a constructive debate on how the continent may realize its potential by designing a sustainable development model for African economies, based on mutual learning. These discussions and exchanges will seek to contribute to policy dialogue on Africa and ongoing efforts to ensure ambition, cohesion and coherence between the continent’s development vision.

Agenda 

 

9.00 – 9.15

 Welcoming remarks

 - Karim El Aynaoui, President, Policy Center for the New South

 - Arthur Minsat, Head of Unit – Africa, Europe & Middle-East, OECD Development Center
09:15 – 10.15

 Session 1: “Key trends shaping Africa’s current and future development”

Chair: Farida Moha, Former journalist at RFI

 - Presentation by Sébastien Markley, Statistician, OECD Development Center, of the report : « Development dynamics in Africa 2018: Growth, employment and inequality »

 - Presentation by Adam Belhadj : Assistant Professor at the University of Carthage in Tunisia and co-author of the chapter "Dynamics of growth, jobs and inequality in North Africa"

 Followed by an open discussion

 Key questions for discussions:

 - What are the major economic and social trends in Africa?

 - What are the dynamics of growth, jobs and inequalities across Africa’s five region?

 - What would be a sustainable development model for African economies?

 - How could African countries further integrate and in a better way into the global economy?
10.15 – 10.30

 Coffee Break
10.30 – 11.30

 Session 2: “Between economic growth and structural fragility”

 Chair: Farida Moha, Former journalist at RFI

 - Presentation by Mouhamadou Moustapha Ly, Economist, Policy Center for the New South of the report “Miroir d’Afrique”

 Key questions for discussions:

 - What are the dynamics of growth for resource-rich African country?

 - Which policies can harness the continent’s natural resources for a sustainable growth model?

 - What would be an enabling environment for the private sector to play its role and continue to attract Foreign Direct Investment that transfers knowledge and creates linkages with the local economy?

 - How can African markets become competitive to accelerate economic growth and create more formal sector jobs?

 - What would be the right set of industrial policies?
11.30 – 12.30

 Policy panel: Opportunities and challenges of economic integration in Africa

 Chair: Farida Moha, Former journalist at RFI 

 - H.E. Mr. Fathallah Oualalou, Former Minister of the Economy and Finance - Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South
12.30 – 13.30

 Session 3: Discussion about prospects to deepen regional integration in Africa and unlock productive transformation

 Chair: Bouchra Rahmouni, Director of Research, Research valorization, Partnerships and Events, Policy Center for the New South

 Regional and global markets offer several opportunities for new and stronger growth patterns. Deepening regional integration and regional value chains in Africa can provide sizable opportunities for diversifying exports. Currently, intermediate goods account for less than 15% of Africa’s trade. While demand for goods is rising, the technology to produce them is also increasingly accessible. The new continental free trade area (CFTA) – initially signed by 44-member states of the African Union – offers a significant stepping-stone for policy action.

 - Presentation by Arthur Minsat, Head of Africa Unit, OECD Development Centre of the preliminary work “Africa's Development Dynamics 2019:  Public policies for Productive Transformation” that will be launched at the African Union summit in summer 2019.

Followed by an open discussion

Key questions for discussions:

 - How can regional integration strengthen regional value chains and accelerate productive transformation in Africa?

 - Given its location between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, what role could Morocco play to strengthen the continent’s industrialization path, including integration into regional and global value chains?

 - What is needed to create an enabling environment that improves access to regional and global markets and strengthen regional production networks and complementarities?
13.30 – 14.30

 Cocktail Lunch
Speakers
Abdelhak Bassou
Senior Fellow
Abdelhak Bassou is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Bassou has had an extensive career in Moroccan National Security, where he served in various capacities including as head of the border division from 1978 to 1993. He was the former director of the Royal Institute of Police in 1998 and served as Head of Regional Security (Errachidia 1999-2003, Sidi Kacem 2003-2005) and as Central Director of General Intelligence from 2006 to 2009.   He holds a master's degree in political science and international studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences in Rabat. His academic research delves into inte ...
Otaviano Canuto
Senior Fellow
Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institute. Former Vice President and Executive Director at the World Bank, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Vice President at the Inter-American Development Bank. ...
Mhammed Dryef
Senior Fellow
Professor M’hammed Dryef is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences (FGSES) of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), and Special Advisor at the Public Policy School (UM6P).    He has spent his career in public administration and has held several leadership positions within the public sector including Chief of Staff at the Ministry of the Interior; Governor Director of the Casablanca Urban Agency; Director General for National Security; Director General for Urban Planning & Territorial Planning; Wali-Director General for Interior Affairs; and Wali of Fez-Boulemane (1991-1998), Greater Casablanca (2003-2005), and Laayoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra regions (2006). Earlier in hi ...
Karim El Aynaoui
Executive President
Karim El Aynaoui is Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South. He is also Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster.   Karim El Aynaoui is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations. At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa.   Karim El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countr ...
Rachid El Houdaigui
Senior Fellow
Rachid El Houdaïgui is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He also serves as a professor of International Relations at Abdelmalek Essaadi University's Law Faculty in Tangier. His expertise encompasses international relations, geopolitics, defense and security, focusing on the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and the Arab world. He also serves as a professor at the Royal College of Advanced Military Studies in Kenitra and is a visiting professor at Cergy-Pontoise University (Paris), Cadiz University (Spain), and La Sagesse University (Beirut, Lebanon).   He is the founder of the Moroccan-Spanish review "Peace and International Security" and oversees the Observatory of Mediterranean Studies ...
Mohammed Loulichki
Senior Fellow
Mohammed Loulichki is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He brings over 40 years of comprehensive experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, and human rights. He has served in various roles including as a member and Deputy Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 3rd Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982-1990), Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1991), and General Director for Multilateral Affairs in the same ministry (2003-2006).   He also acted as Morocco's Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia (1995-1999), and was the Moroccan Government's Ambassador Coordinator with MINURSO (1999-2001). Furthermore, he served ...
Fathallah Oualalou
Senior Fellow
Fathallah Oualalou is an economist, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South.  He obtained his PhD in economics from the University of Paris in 1968. Prior to joining the Policy Center for the New South, he served as a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat and other higher education institutions in Morocco, and as an associate professor at several foreign universities. He is the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of economic theory, financial economics, international economic relations, the economies of Maghreb countries, the Arab world, and the Euro-Mediterranean area. In addition, he was the president of the Association of Moroccan Economists at the Union of Arab Economists. His political activism began with the creation, in the 1960s, of ...
Alfredo Da Gama e Abreu Valladão
Senior Fellow
Alfredo G. A. Valladão is Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South and Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po Paris, who focuses on international affairs, geopolitics, global economics, Brazil and Latin America. Alongside these positions, he is President of the Advisory Board at EU-Brazil association in Brussels, Member International Advisory Board of CEBRI (Brazilian Center for International Relations – Rio de Janeiro), Member of the Comité des Rencontres Internationales de Genève (RIG), Director of the Latin America Research Chair at CESEM-HEM in Morocco and a columnist for Radio France Internationale (RFI). Former member of the Board of Trustees of UNITAR (2009-1015), and former Director of the Mercosur Chair of Sciences Po (199 ...
Arthur Minsat
Head of Africa, Europe and Middle-East Unit, OECD Development Centre
Arthur Minstat is Head of the OECD Development Centre’s Unit for Africa, Europe and Middle East, Arthur is responsible for the Africa's Development Dynamics 2018 and Revenue Statistics in Africa, in partnership with the African Union. As economist, he led the themes of the African Economic Outlooks (AEO). At UNDP in New York, Arthur contributed to the flagship Human Development Reports. In Abidjan, he volunteered for the United Nations Operations in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) during the electoral crisis. He gained private sector experience at Wolters Kluwer. Arthur Minstat holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science. ...
Jamal Machrouh
Senior Fellow
Jamal Machrouh is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South where he focuses on Geopolitics and International Relations issues, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P). He is also professor of international relations at the National School of Business and Management, Ibn Toufaïl University, Kénitra. Mr. Machrouh is lecturer at the Royal College of Advanced Military Studies of Kénitra and at Södertörn University of Stockholm, Sweden. He is the author of a book titled Justice and Development under World Trade Organization and of various articles dealing with international relations and geopolitics. ...
Sébastien Markley
Statistician, Africa, Europe and Middle-East Unit, OECD Development Centre
Sébastien Markley has been a statistician at the OECD Development Centre since 2014, specialising in collecting and analysing statistics on African countries. He was on the team responsible for the annual flagship publications Africa’s Development Dynamics, Revenue Statistics in Africa and the Af rican Economic Outlook. In Whitehorse, Canada, he produced official demographic and socioeconomic statistics for the Canadian government. In Toulouse, France, at the Institut BVA, he developed statistical models of consumer choice based on survey data. He holds a doctorate from the Toulouse 1 University Capitole. ...
Aram Belhadj
Maître assistant à l’université de Carthage en Tunisie
Dr. Aram Belhadj is an assistant professor in the university of Carthage (FSEG Nabeul), Tunisia. He got his PhD from the university of Orleans France. He is an author of many articles and notes that were published in international peer reviewed journals. He is working on economic and monetary integration issues on developing and emerging economies. Additionally, he has served as consultant for several think-tanks and international organizations. ...