Back

APSACO 7th Edition - Report Discussion: Annual Report on Africa’s Geopolitics / Closing Remarks

July 11, 2023
Related topics: 
Security & Defense
Africa

Chair: Mehdi Benomar, Head – Research in International Relations, Policy Center for the New South

Speakers:
- Jamal Machrouh, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South
- Nezha Alaoui M’hammdi, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South
- Sâ Benjamin Traoré, Assistant Professor, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
- Hind Zaamoun, PHD Student, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University

Discussants:
- Guido Lanfranchi, Research Fellow, Clingendael
- Mahamadou N’fa Simpara, PHD Student, FSJES, Rabat

Closing Remarks:
- Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President, Policy Center for the New South

Speakers
Nezha Alaoui M’hammdi
Senior Fellow
Mrs. Nezha Alaoui M’Hammdi is Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South (since 2020) and the current Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco to Ethiopia and Djibouti since 2016. She has served as first Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco after its return to the African Union by 2017, and to the Peace and Security Council of the AU (April 2018). She is currently Dean of the Council of Arab League Ambassadors to Ethiopia She also served from 2013 to 2016 as an Ambassador of Morocco to Ghana, Togo and Benin, being the first Moroccan female Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Africa. After joining the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco in 1989, Mrs. Nezha Alaoui M’Hammdi served mainly in Italy and Ghana. During her assignment, from 2 ...
Mehdi Benomar
Head – Research in International Relations
Mehdi Benomar has cumulated 18 years of experience as analyst and occupied several positions in public organizations: in National Defense as head of division (2000-2008), in the cabinet of the ministry of Mines and Energy (2010-12) and in OCP Group (2012-2017). He also served as senior consultant in private firm Global Intelligence Partners (G.I.P.) (2008-2010) in Rabat. He specialized in strategic monitoring issues and contributed on different topics related to proliferation, energy and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Nuclear Engineer, he graduated from the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives and has a master in sciences. ...
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 ...
Guido Lanfranchi
Research Fellow, Clingendael
Guido Lanfranchi is a research fellow at Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit (CRU). He contributes to CRU’s Horn of Africa programme, focusing on Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. Guido’s research interests revolve around the interplay between economic, political and security dynamics, with a focus on how economic interests and business elites shape governance arrangements and conflict patterns. Guido also conducts research on geopolitical dynamics in the Horn of Africa, including the engagement of various foreign powers (Russia, China, Arab Gulf states, etc.). Guido holds a master’s degree in International Security from SciencesPo Paris and a bachelor's degree in International Studies from Leiden University. Prior to joining Clingendael, he interned at the Council of the EU, whe ...
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. ...
Sâ Benjamin Traoré
Professor of Law, Faculty of Governance, Economics and Social Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (FGSES-UM6P)
Professor Traoré holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), an LLM in International Law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a Master in Public Law from the University from Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Prior to joining UM6P, Prof Traoré worked as the Project Manager for the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA). His work and research focused on the role of law in regulating business-related human rights and environmental impacts in Africa, traditional fields of international law and international relations, peace and security in Africa, human rights, international humanitarian law as well as the law related to refugees and internally displaced persons. He has published many academic articles ...
Hind Zaamoun
PhD Student, Mohamed VI Polytechnic University
Mrs. Hind Zaamoun is a PhD student at Mohamed VI Polytechnic University. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from University of Turin (Italy). She previously held the position of research assistant at the UM6P. Her current PhD project explores the impact of the geopolitical dynamics on peacebuilding implementation in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her area of interest include: conflict resolution, post-conflict transitions, peacebuilding and DDR processes. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Interview avec Abdelhak Bassou sur le Sommet Russie-Afrique de Sotchi
    October 29, 2019
    Questions : 1/ Qualifierez-vous le Sommet Russie/Afrique de Sotchi de retrouvailles ou de consolidation des relations russo-africaines ? 2/ Vladimir Poutine parviendra-t-il à remettre la Russie au centre de l’Afrique ? 3/ Moscou ne risque-t-elle pas de gêner les présences européenne, am...
  • Une place dans le ‘’Marché mondial des idées’’
    Authors
    Mokhtar Ghailani
    October 18, 2019
    D’édition en édition, African Peace and Security annual Conference (APSACO), l’un des rendez-vous annuels phares du Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), confirme son envergure de plate-forme d’échange et de partage en vue de permettre à l’Afrique de s’adjuger une place dans le marché mondial des idées.  Dans son intervention lors de la 3ème édition, organisée les 18 et 19 juin 2019, avec pour thème ‘’ Africa's Place and Influence in a Changing World’’, Rachid El Houdaigui, Senior ...
  • Download PDF
    Synthesis Report: 3rd Edition of the African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO)
    Authors
    October 18, 2019
    The third edition of the African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO) was held on June 18-19th 2019 under the theme “Africa's Place and Influence in a Changing World”. The two-day event, organized by Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), was launched with the publication of the Annual Report on Africa’s Geopolitics, Followed by five panels : - Panel 1: Africa and the world or How to balance Mutual perceptions; - Panel 2: Africa and the production of strategic and normati ...
  • India and Morocco’s New Cooperation Areas: Focusing on Security and Preventing Violent Extremism
    Authors
    Ihssane Guennoun
    October 2, 2019
    With India looking more towards Africa as a home for sustainable partners, it is also looking at diversifying the areas of collaboration with several African countries, especially with Morocco. As early as 1967, India’s then Vice-President Zakir Hussain visited Morocco and set the tone for engagement between both countries. The latter has established diplomatic relations based on mutual understanding, tolerance and respect. Since then, the two countries have enjoyed fruitful relatio ...
  • Download PDF
    Moroccan Armed Forces in the Face of Geopolitical Mutations
    Authors
    Rachid El Houdaigui
    September 9, 2019
    One of the first sovereign decisions of independent Morocco was to create the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) on 14 May 1956. Since then, the mission of the Moroccan army is consistent with the country's historical continuity shaped by strategic constants, it has however been subject to both conceptual and operational pressures since the late 1990s, as the lines between defense and security have blurred. This paper explores the central issue of adjusting the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) to a r ...
  • The Misunderstood World of Cybersecurity in Africa
    Authors
    Amanda Mathe
    July 10, 2019
    A new age world of understanding that requires skills and fair access to information. Where open data is met with harsh punishment and laws set without clarity. Here is a look at African’s take on cybersecurity. This article is published on the eve of the Ifri-PCNS Roundtable taking place in Paris under the theme "Global Cybersecurity Challenges: Disentangling Risks and Opportunities in International Politics."   The digital era has brought about new forms of communication as well ...
  • Download PDF
    Stability and Security in Africa: The Role of Hard and Soft Power
    Authors
    Scientific Committee :
    Abdelhak Bassou
    Rachid El Houdaigui
    Jack Kalpakian
    Nizar Messari
    Sara Hasnaa Mokaddem
    Ahmed Rhazaoui
    June 14, 2019
    Enhancing the strategic thinking on issues related to stability and security at the African level requires challenging the predominant classical conception of security towards a more comprehensive, supportive and inclusive approach. While traditional strategies are often based on military responses and hard power, it is necessary to emphasize soft power in all its dimensions, placing the individual at the heart of all conflict prevention and management methods. Some authors argue f ...
  • Download PDF
    The UK’s policy towards Africa post-Brexit
    Authors
    Juliana Suess
    May 24, 2019
    On the eve of Britain’s exit from the European Union, the country is redefining its international approach. The United Kingdom has already taken action by becoming involved in new economic commitments, new trade agreements in Commonwealth countries but also from a diplomatic point of view in West Africa. While development aid remains a focal point of its intervention in Africa, it risks being undermined by the Brexit and its economic consequences. However, the United Kingdom is now ...
  • L’Allemagne au Sahel : Un espoir pour plus de développement et de coordination
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    May 3, 2019
    La chancelière allemande, Angela Merkel, effectue une visite officielle au Burkina Faso en ces débuts du mois de mai, accompagnée d’une délégation d’hommes d’affaires et de responsables de l’économie. La visite est assortie d’une participation à un Sommet du G5 Sahel, dont le Burkina assure présentement la présidence. Si la question de la sécurité et de la lutte contre le terrorisme reste toujours de mise, l’intérêt allemand pour la région, et surtout la nature de la délégation all ...
  • Libya and France: A Revival of ‘Napoleonism’?
    Authors
    Youssef Tobi
    May 3, 2019
    France appears to be relying on force to patch up problems in Africa, and particularly in Libya. None of this is compatible with President Macron’s lofty foreign policy declarations. French President Emmanuel Macron has classified colonisation as a crime against humanity. He is also keen to redefine the relationship with former French colonies. But in practice, there has never been a more ‘let’s go to war’ or ‘va t-en guerre’ attitude, in terms of its hopes for involvement in inter ...