Economic Nationalism in the Era of Geofragmentation: What Does it Mean for Developing Countries?

December 6, 2023

The Policy Center for the New South is organizing a webinar on “Economic Nationalism in the Era of Geofragmentation: What Does it Mean for Developing Countries?” on December 6th, 2023 at 3.00 PM (GMT+1), in the framework of the PCNS Webinar Series – The Global Economy in Transition: Implications for Developing Countries.

The global economic landscape is witnessing a surge in economic nationalism and geofragmentation, presenting challenges for developing countries. The Policy Center for the New South is organizing a webinar to delve into the potential impact of these trends on developing nations worldwide.

This webinar aims to explore how economic nationalism policies, including protectionism and import substitution, may result in heightened trade barriers and restrictions on foreign investment. Such developments could diminish the integration of developing countries into the global economy, with consequential effects on growth and poverty alleviation.

Moreover, the webinar will assess the influence of rising economic nationalism and geofragmentation on developing countries' endeavors to integrate into regional trading blocs. While the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aspires to establish a single market for goods across the continent, the emergence of regional trading blocs in other parts of the world may pose challenges to global economic integration efforts.

The potential implications extend to the realm of investment, where developing countries heavily depend on foreign investment for economic development. Any obstacles to such investment could impede growth prospects. Additionally, the industrialization efforts of developing nations may be affected if economic nationalism policies stimulate the establishment of domestic industries that could compete with their nascent industrial sectors.

Speakers
Abdelaaziz Ait Ali
Head - Research in Economics
Abdelaaziz Ait Ali is a principal Economist and head of the Research Department at the Policy Center for the New South. He joined the Center in 2014 after five years of experience at the Central Bank of Morocco. He worked as an economist in the International Studies and Relations Department and was analyzing the real estate price index and financial asset prices for monetary policy and financial stability purposes. Since then, Abdelaaziz has focused on cyclical and structural issues of the Moroccan economy, including macroeconomic management and industrial policy design. He has published articles on the reform of the exchange rate regime in the Moroccan economy and its implications for macroeconomic regulation, as well as on the evolution of the macroeconomic framework over th ...
Guntram Wolff
Director, Bruegel , Belgium
Guntram Wolff is Director of Bruegel. His research focuses on the European economy and governance, on fiscal and monetary policy and global finance. He regularly testifies to the European Finance Ministers' ECOFIN meeting, the European Parliament, the German Parliament (Bundestag) and the French Parliament (Assemblée Nationale). From 2012-16, he was a member of the French primeminister's Conseil d'Analyse Economique.  Guntram Wolff is also a member of the Solvay Brussels School's international advisory board of the Brussels Free University. He joined Bruegel from the European Commission, where he worked on the macroeconomics of the euro area and the reform of euro area governance. Prior to joining the Commission, he was coordinating the research team on fiscal policy at Deuts ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • May 31, 2018
    Avec la refonte des relations entre l’Union Européenne et les pays ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes et Pacifique), prévue pour février 2020, il devient urgent de repenser le cadre du partenariat entre l’Europe et l’Afrique et de proposer des éléments de refondation d’un vouloir vivre collectif. Priorité éducative, création d’emplois pour les jeunes via le développement territorial, promotion des partenariats publicprivé dans les infrastructures, comptent parmi les leviers d’actions possibles. ...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2018
    Salutations Thank you for the invitation to address the 2018 Africa Think Tank Summit  in this memorable city of Rabat. I thank in particular, the OCP Policy Center and the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania for hosting the Summit with the theme “Deepening Expertise and Enhancing Sustainability: Insight into Contemporary Challenges Facing African Think Tanks”. Rabat, Morocco has been the sprouting ground of numerous agenda-setting instruments ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    May 31, 2018
    What are the best ways forward to enhance the capacity, increase the impact, and ensure the long term viability of think tanks in Africa? These questions have been debated during the 2nd edition of African Think Tank Summit (ATTS) held in Rabat from May 9th to May 11th.  The African think tanks have positively evolved over the years in order to respond to the specific needs of their different countries. They operate as platforms to share knowledge and train young leaders, with some ...
  • May 21, 2018
    Le partenariat Afrique Europe fait son chemin depuis l'adoption de la stratégie commune Afrique-UE et la négociation complexe des Accords de Partenariat Economiques. L’évaluation des volets commercial, financier et humain de ces relations multidimensionnelles fait ressortir la persistance de grands déséquilibres dans les échanges commerciaux de biens et services, des tensions dans la gestion de la mobilité humaine et des dysfonctionnements dans les mécanismes institutionnels de part ...
  • Authors
    May 21, 2018
    The main message of this paper is that our world is undergoing a profound transformation in multiple aspects. These, at a minimum, include the following: - the degree and manner of our acceptance of or opposition to increased integration as trading nations - the constantly evolving technologies we use, the way we work, play and interact as social groups and entire societies - the very climate that conditions our living environment. ...
  • Authors
    May 15, 2018
    Technology and inequality, China's special status, macroeconomic imbalances, and WTO dysfunction, are the challenges confronted by the world trading system, and which lie at the root of resurgent protectionism. Are the trade tensions that have been stoked by Trump unique to him or the outcome of forces that preceded him and will outlast him? ...
  • May 15, 2018
    Dans ce Podcast, nous avons sollicité l’avis de Mr. John Seaman, chercheur à l’Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), sur les investissements chinois en Europe. Les oppor ...
  • May 15, 2018
    Les réponses de l’expert John Seaman aux questions que nous lui avons posées, permettent de mieux cerner la réalité des investissements chinois en Europe. Ceci en évoquant les craintes qu ...
  • Authors
    May 10, 2018
    These days, the word "crisis" is gaining a new urgency around the globe… Crisis of humanity, of water, hunger, poverty, climate. Crisis of war, destruction, terrorism. And a crisis of thought, intellectual exchange, theories transfered into reality. And a crisis of think tanks, eventually, although their work matters, since it sends signals, offers proposals and applicable solutions.  In that context, Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria and Board member of the Africa Pro ...
  • May 10, 2018
    According to the global consulting firm McKinsey and Company, one out of our workers worldwide may be African by 2030. The global center for gravity of labor-intensive manufacturing is ex ...