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

  • Jihadisme au Sahel
    Authors
    Mokhtar Ghailani
    April 9, 2018
    Fidèle à sa tradition de diffuser la connaissance et de promouvoir le débat d’idées, l’OCP Policy Center a reçu, le 5 avril 2018, le journaliste mauritanien Lemine Ould Salem, pour la présentation de son tout dernier livre intitulé « L’histoire secrète du Djihad. D’al-Qaïda à l’Etat islamique», paru en janvier dernier aux éditions Flammarion. Dans cet ouvrage, l’auteur rapporte ses entrevues avec l’une des principales figures d’Al-Qaïda, Abou Hafs en l’occurrence, « conseiller spiri ...
  • Download PDF
    Sahélisation de la violence extrémiste : Est-ce la naissance d’une troisième génération de terrorisme ?
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    April 5, 2018
    Sommes-nous en train d’assister à l’émergence d’une troisième génération de jihadisme au Sahel ? Après le phénomène mondialisé des années 90 né sous l’impulsion des jihadistes afghans et porté par Oussama Ben Laden et Al Qaeda, un autre courant a vu le jour ces dernières années avec l’arrivée de Daech, caractérisé par une territorialisation de la lutte et le rêve d’un califat. Ces deux mouvements se sont livrés une rude bataille en terrain sahélien, fragmenté en plusieurs structures ...
  • Download PDF
    Violent Extremism in the Sahel: The Birth of a Third Generation of Terrorism?
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    April 5, 2018
    Are we witnessing a third generation of jihadism rearing its head in the Sahel? In the wake of the globalised movement of jihad in the 1990s, spearheaded by Afghan jihadists and propelled forward by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, another trend has emerged in recent years with the advent of Daesh (also known as ISIS and ISIL) – a trend that is characterised by the territorialisation of the struggle and the revival of the Caliphate dream. These two movements have engaged in fierce conf ...
  • Download PDF
    العنف المتطرف يأخذ طابعا ساحليا: هل هي نشأة جيل ثالث من الإرهاب؟
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    April 5, 2018
    هل نشهد اليوم نشأة جيل ثالث من العنف في الساحل؟ بعد الظاهرة العالمية لتسعينيات القرن الماضي التي نشأت بدافع من المجاهدين الأفغان وقادها أسامة بن لادن وتنظيم القاعدة، برز مع ظهور تنظيم داعش خلال السنوات الأخيرة تيار جديد يتسم بأقلمة النضال وحُلم الخلافة. وخاضت هاتان الحركتان معركة صعبة على أرض الساحل المجزأة إلى العديد من الهياكل المؤلفة في البداية من قيادات تنحدر من المغرب العربي والشرق الأوسط. لكن، القطيعة المذهبية مع تنظيم القاعدة – الذي يدعو إلى مهاجمة الساكنة المدنية – وتراجع دا ...
  • Les dictateurs font le lit du jihadisme
    Authors
    Mokhtar Ghailani
    March 30, 2018
    L’OCP Policy Center a eu la primeur de la présentation, par l’historien Jean Pierre Filiu, de son dernier livre « Généraux, gangsters et jihadistes. Histoire de la contre-révolution arabe », la toute première hors de son pays, la France. Une première dont il se réjouira au début du débat-échange autour de son ouvrage, tenue le 28 mars 2018, en partenariat avec l’Institut Français du Maroc. Habitué à faire appel à plusieurs disciplines scientifiques à la fois, telles que la science ...
  • Sécurité, partenariats Sud-Sud et regards latino-américains
    Authors
    December 20, 2017
    La troisième et dernière journée de la conférence de haut niveau Atlantique Dialogues, organisée du 13 au 15 décembre à Marrakech par l’OCP Policy Center, a porté pour l’essentiel sur des questions de géopolitique africaine, ainsi que sur la “croissance sans emploi”, “les partenariats Sud-Sud” et les témoignages apportés par trois anciens présidents d’Argentine et du Costa-Rica sur les trajectoires de développement latino-américaines. “Sécurité dans le Sahel et implications transat ...
  • Plenary IX and AD Talk (Frensh)
    December 15, 2017
    14:00 – 15:15 Plenary IX: Lessons from Foreign Military Interventions in Africa Location: Ballroom Moderator: Zeinab Badawi, Director, Kush Communications - Michel Duclos, French Diplomat and Senior Fellow, Institut Montaigne - Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, President, Nato Defense College Fo...
  • Plenary IX and AD Talk
    December 15, 2017
    14:00 – 15:15 Plenary IX: Lessons from Foreign Military Interventions in Africa Location: Ballroom Moderator: Zeinab Badawi, Director, 2 - Michel Duclos, French Diplomat and Senior Fellow, Institut Montaigne - Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, President, Nato Defense College Foundation - Michell...
  • Plenary IX: Lessons from Foreign Military Interventions in Africa
    December 12, 2017
    Africa has a history of foreign military interventions, dating back to the colonial era. The 21st century has seen an intensification of foreign and intra-African military intervention. The reasons include competition and the desire to maintain spheres of influence, the war on terrorism...
  • Plenary VIII: Security in the Sahel and Transatlantic Implications
    December 12, 2017
    Countries in the Sahel are facing political changes that affect the rest of the continent and the world. The Sahel region has had a long history of vulnerability owing to dry land conditions, climate change as well as movements of people. These factors have resulted in porous frontiers ...