Why Think tanks Matter in Africa 2020

January 30, 2020

The Policy Center for the New South hosted a "Why Think Tanks Matter in Africa", in the framework of the annual Why Think Tanks Matter Forum, organized by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP). The Why Think Tanks Matter events serve not only to demonstrate the value and importance of think tanks around the world but also to highlight their instrumental role for determining in an early stage the new challenges that countries may face in various political and economic contexts. In this edition, speakers discussed the critical work think tanks perform in Africa according to their expertise.

Speakers
Mouhamadou Moustapha Ly
Economist, African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Currently economist within the African Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, where he works on East African economies on various macroeconomic policy subjects and surveillance, he is also an affiliate professor of economics at Mohamed-6 Polytechnic university in Rabat (Morocco). Prior to that, Mouhamadou was senior economist at the Policy Center for the New South in Rabat (Morocco) working on development related issues and regional integration in the African continent. Mouhamadou also spent several years as assistant professor at Gaston Berger university in Saint-Louis (Senegal) and a lecturer at Auvergne university (France) and City university (London). He also worked as research fellow at the African Center for Statistics in the United Nations Econo ...
Khalid Chegraoui
Senior Fellow
Khalid Chegraoui is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and Vice Dean of Political Sciences and International Relations at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI University.  He began his teaching and research career in 1992 as a Research Assistant Professor at Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University in Fez after earning his first doctorate in African Studies from the Mohammed V University in Rabat focusing on West Sub-Saharan Africa. He also earned a Doctorate of State in African Studies from the same University in 2002, where he focused on Contemporary West Africa, in 2003 he became Professor of History and Political Anthropology at the Institute of African Studies, Mohammed V University, consultant on African and Midd ...
Luigi Narbone
Director, Mediterranean Platform & Professor of Practice, Luiss Guido Carli University
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Florent Parmentier
    October 12, 2026
    Cet article soutient que le Chief Geopolitical Officer (CGO) doit être repensé à partir de l’expérience des entreprises africaines. Dans un environnement multipolaire et fragmenté, leur principal défi n’est pas seulement la gestion des risques, mais la préservation de plusieurs options stratégiques simultanément selon une logique de hedging. Trois modèles de CGO sont à distinguer : l’intermédiation (Office chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), Tanger Med), l’intégration régionale (Ethiopi ...
  • Authors
    Paul Isbell
    October 9, 2026
    In the first seven Policy Briefs of this ongoing series of analysis on Pan-Atlanticism: The Atlantic Basin in a Multipolar-Transnational World, we developed the argument that the strategic significance of the Atlantic Basin is on the rise for a range of international actors (states, regions and non-state agents) and from distinct political or ideological perspectives. In addition, in the most recently published Policy Brief -- “The U.S. and the Current International Reconfiguration: ...
  • October 09, 2026
    Can Nigeria’s Dangote refinery help strengthen Africa’s energy security amid disruptions to global supply routes? This discussion considers how expanding local refining capacity can reduc ...
  • October 8, 2026
    This paper was originaly published on Higher Education Policy Journal This article critically assesses the alignment between Morocco’s public guidance schemes for international students and its national development goals. Specifically, it investigates the capacity of these mechanisms to transform student mobility from a potential ‘brain drain’ into a tangible ‘brain gain’. Employing a qualitative case study approach, we conducted a systematic content analysis of 204 mobili ...
  • Authors
    Lina Jaoid
    October 8, 2026
    In the two years since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Russia has restructured its Mediterranean presence. Although Russia’s limited and increasingly conditional access to the Khmeimim and Tartus facilities in Syria has been preserved, its presence in the country has morphed from Assad’s ‘patron-client’ configuration to a more negotiated engagement. Simultaneously, Russia has upgraded its force-projection and logistical infrastructure in eastern Libya, giving it an access path ...
  • Authors
    Marie-Noelle Nwokolo
    October 6, 2026
    The author of this opinion, Marie-Noelle Nwokolo, is a 2024 alumna of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders Program.In September 1978, delegations from 138 countries gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, around a powerful idea: developing countries had knowledge, experience and capabilities worth sharing with one another. The Buenos Aires Plan of Action gave institutional form to what we now call South-South Cooperation, part of a wider post-colonial effort by developing ...
  • Authors
    October 2, 2026
    Le Cameroun dispose d'importants gisements de minerais, notamment de fer, de la bauxite, d'or, de cobalt, de nickel, de manganèse, de calcaire, de marbre, de diamants, entre autres. L'industrie minière du pays est restée dominée par l'exploitation artisanale et à petite échelle, en particulier l'orpaillage, tandis que les hydrocarbures ont représenté l'essentiel des recettes issues des industries extractives. Le pays cristallise ainsi le paradoxe africain : malgré l’ampleur et la di ...
  • September 30, 2026
    تتناول هذه الحلقة ظاهرة «إل نينيو» وتأثيراتها المحتملة على المغرب، من خلال التعريف بآلياتها وانعكاساتها على درجات الحرارة والتساقطات والظواهر المناخية القصوى. كما تسلط الضوء على تداعياتها المحتملة على الموارد المائية والقطاع الفلاحي، والمناطق والقطاعات الأكثر عرضة لتأثيراتها. وتناقش الح...
  • September 28, 2026
    This paper was initially published in French on the website of the Fondation Jean-Jaurès. There was a historic decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2025. Foreign aid to developing countries from members of the OECD-DAC fell by some 23%, the largest decline on record and the second consecutive annual decline. Aid to Africa fell by more than 25%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) described this decline in ODA to Africa as “a shock like no other.” It differ ...