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

  • Authors
    Morten Seja
    November 1, 2019
    The author is an alumnus of the Atlantic Dialogues Emeging Leaders Program 2014. The discussion on industry 4.0 (also often referred to as smart manufacturing or industrial internet of things – which is the term mostly used in the United States of America) has graduated from being a niche topic discussed (and implemented) by engineers in the world’s richest economies. If industry 4.0 has not physically arrived everywhere, it is at least in the minds of some: industry 4.0 in Africa, ...
  • Authors
    Samuel Arnaud
    October 28, 2019
    Africa, as a continent of economic opportunities, is attracting foreign players. In this context, India is emerging as an important partner, especially for Eastern and Southern Africa. The complexity of its geopolitical environment combined with internal specificities motivated the revival of interest for the continent. This paper draws on historical developments between India and African countries to provide the state of play of recent linkages. Those trends are better perceived th ...
  • Authors
    October 28, 2019
    Global GDP has slowed sharply, from near 4% in late 2017 to half that rate on an annualized basis in recent quarters. The downturn in fortunes over the last two years has come as a big surprise. The rapid expansion of 2016/2017 was broad based but died young. Prior to it we had suffered seven long years of slow growth in the wake of the global financial crisis Why did such a sharp and steady slowdown occur against a background of loose monetary policy, supportive fiscal policy, low ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    October 25, 2019
    Eric Ntumba, a young Congolese banker, came from Kinshasa in December 2017 to participate in the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders Programme of the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) in Marrakech. At that time, when asked what his dream was, he immediately said he would like : « to become President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and bring about inclusive development, so that the country’s enormous potential can be finally transformed into power. My dream is that eac ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    October 25, 2019
    Jeune banquier congolais, Eric Ntumba est venu de Kinshasa en décembre 2017 pour participer au programme Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders du Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) à Marrakech. À l’époque, lorsqu’on lui demandait quel était son rêve, il déclarait d’emblée : « Devenir président de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) et apporter un développement inclusif, pour faire que le potentiel énorme de ce pays se transforme enfin en puissance. Mon rêve est que chaque en ...
  • Authors
    Paula Tavares
    October 25, 2019
    As world leaders gathered this month for high-level talks at the 74th United Nations General Assembly, pressing global issues were at the forefront of discussions, including progress toward the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While taking stock of how far we have come in realizing commitments in key areas, including to end poverty and hunger, expand access to health, education, justice and jobs, promote inclusive and sustained economic growth, and protect o ...
  • October 14, 2019
    The objective of this paper is to better understand the evolution of manufacturing employment across the world. Manufacturing value added has grown rapidly since 2000, at least matching world GDP growth, even after the global financial crisis, reflecting mainly rising demand for manufactures especially in developing countries. However, manufacturing employment increased at only a slow pace, both before and after the global financial crisis. Manufacturing employment growth provided o ...
  • October 9, 2019
    Questions: 1/ Le Brexit est-il avantageux économiquement pour le Royaume-Uni ? 2/ Est-il possible de contourner l’équation de la frontière irlandaise ? 3/ Si sur le plan politique le Brexit est encore en discussion, dans les faits, et à certains égards, il est déjà réalité. Est-ce à dir...