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Call for submissions: Africa and global commodity markets: towards a new paradigm? For the 6th Bordeaux Workshop in International Economics and Finance

From

28
9:00 am September 2018

To

28
6:00 pm September 2018

 

Theme

Over the last two decades, as in previous decades, commodity prices have gone through particularly significant upward and downward phases, which have not been without major consequences on the economic, social and political realities of African exporting countries. The ambition of this workshop, two years after the return of bullish prices, is to appreciate the nature of the various links that unite Africa and world commodity markets and to characterize a possible paradigm shift. Considering the high degree of commodities’ price instability, has the macroeconomic resilience of the African continent increased over the last decade? What have been the consequences of the financialization of commodity markets on the reality of African producers? What are the challenges that Africa must now overcome to ensure the economic diversification that governments are calling for? Is there a significant evolution since the end of the super-cycle of the relations between Africa on the one hand and Western or Chinese groups on the other? What are the opportunities offered to African producers by the creation of the Continental free trade area and the promotion of continental demand? Is a reform of global commodity markets that would benefit African countries now only a distant utopia? So many questions, among others, that this workshop will try to address. This analysis could be as general as it could be specific to a specific commodity or a (group of) country. In this respect, this workshop is not necessarily limited to strictly economic approaches and remains open to alternative approaches combining economics, politics, geopolitics, law, or sociology as long as they open a new perspective on the theme of this workshop.

Papers can in particular address the following issues:

  • •  The macroeconomic resilience of commodity exporting countries
  • •  Agriculture and food security in Africa
  • •  Africa's terms of trade and the Prebsich Singer hypothesis
  • •  The effectiveness of African sovereign wealth funds
  • •  The economic and social impacts of local content policies
  • •  Energy and transport infrastructures for the African commodity sectors
  • •  Promoting continental demand for African commodities: what are the challenges?
  • •  Commodity prices dynamics and the reforms of oil & gas and mining codes: what synchronization?
  • •  Local processing of African natural resources: identifying opportunities and constraints
  • •  Financing industrial and commercial activities related to raw materials:
  • •  The potential for commodity exchanges in Africa

Organization Committee

Yves Jégourel, Larefi, Université de Bordeaux & OCP Policy Center, Raphaël Chiappini, Larefi, Université de Bordeaux

Scientific Committee

John Baffes, World Bank ; Tanguy Bernard, Université de Bordeaux ; Olivier Bruno, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis ; Philippe Chalmin, Université Paris Dauphine, Raphaël Chiappini, Larefi, Université de Bordeaux, Yves Jégourel, Université de Bordeaux, OCP Policy Center ; Sandrine Kablan, Université Paris Est Créteil, Jean-François Verdié, Toulouse Business School.

Location

Bordeaux

Keynote speakers

John Baffes, Senior Economist, The World Bank.

Janvier Nkuruziza, Chief of the Commodity Research and Analysis Section, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Submission details

The workshop welcomes submissions by academics, practitioners and regulators. Papers (theoretical, empirical or historical) must be complete and written in English. The front page should clearly indicate the name of co-authors, their electronic address and their affiliation. Papers should be submitted by email to the following electronic address: jegourel@u-bordeaux.fr. No registration fee. Participants will have to cover hotel and travel expenses, guest speakers excluded. Meals and coffee breaks will be free.

Deadlines

August 31, 2018: deadline for submission.

September 7, 2018: notification of acceptance.

September 14, 2018: deadline for registration.

Speakers
John Baffes
Senior Economist, The World Bank
John Baffes is a Senior Agricultural Economist with the World Bank’s Prospects Group. He heads the Commodities Unit and is in charge of the Commodity Markets Outlook, a World Bank publication focusing on commodity market analysis and price forecasts. John’s experience spans several regions and units, including Latin America, South Asia, East Africa, Evaluation, and Research. John specializes in the areas of commodity markets analysis and resource economics. Prior to entering graduate school, John managed a commodity trading company. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Athens, Greece (BS), University of Georgia, U.S. (MS), and University of Maryland, U.S. (PhD) ...
Janvier Nkuruziza
Chief of the Commodity Research and Analysis Section, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
...