Atlantic Dialogues

“Out of the Eurocentric box” This young planner and lecturer at the Departement of International Urbanism of the University of Stuttgart (Germany) spontaneously describes himself as a “Marrakchi, ambitious and curious” person. His birthplace and family’s influence matter a lot in his professional journey. Not only because the Red City is “an inspiring place for its history, architecture and culture”, but also because his grandfather was a well-established tile maker, who participat ...

“Your environment, an opportunity for skills” Born in Kenya, Vicky Ngari reluctantly followed her mother in the United Kingdom when she was 10. She didn’t want to leave Nairobi, where she nurtured as a child a fascination for clothes, garments and dancing. As the years passed, she never severed ties with Kenya, nor Africa. In Brighton and London, she studied Film and TV, then creative writing, majoring in sociology and journalism. She realized during her first year at University t ...

« Passionate, Black, visionary » Ana Paula Barreto talks about serious matters with great calm, taking time to reflect before answering questions, from New York. Born in Jardim Angela, a poor area of São Paulo, considered as the most dangerous neighbourhood in the world by the United Nations in 1996, she remembers the violence of the favelas. She doesn’t want to reduce her childhood « in a joyful family » to « the ugly », but one of her strongest memories is seeing the bodies of pe ...

“Fathom the incredible, create the crazy” His warmth comes as naturally as his strong sense of empathy, obvious from the first encounter. No coincidence there: since his childhood, Kheston Walkins has a “fascination with the human brain” and its infinite possibilities. He spent time reading Encyclopedias and dictionaries when he was a child, rather than novels and history books. His mother, a teacher, “exchanged her sleep for our survival”, he says about his family, which has no sc ...

Born in 1984 in Peru and trained as a scientist, Clarissa Rios Rojas has a PhD in molecular biology, but also a clear taste for exploring beyond her field to see the bigger picture. She is since March 2020 a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk, launched by the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. “The Center is very multi-disciplinary, with philosophers, astronomers, lawyers, economists, and educators, working on the management of global catast ...

He is a young man like no other. One can spot him easily in a crowd by the way he dresses and addresses the issues with which he is concerned. Leonardo Párraga, an award-winning social entrepreneur and alternative education activist, was born in Colombia with the soul of an artist. He writes poetry, engages with photography, and finds inspiration in the writings of Walt Whitman, whom he describes as the poet of “interconnectedness”. At 25, he left Bogotá for Harvard University, for ...

The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) believes in filling in the generational and perception gaps, and this can only be achieved when the younger generations of leaders and professionals are given a seat at the table, to challenge the established perspectives and forward the conversations. The PCNS supports youth as the leaders of today and has faith in their capacity to inflict change in the present. It also believes in: intergenerational dialogue and co-leadership; youth as a ...

She was 31 years old and had just set up the New Work Lab, a coworking and start-up accelerator space, in Morocco in 2013, when she was selected as one of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders. Fatim Zahra Biaz already had an extensive professional background, which reflected her quest for meaning in work: a graduate of Edec, a business school in Lille, she had worked in Paris in "change management" consulting. "I couldn't sense the impact I was looking for in my work, be it econ ...

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 ...

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 ...

Richard Seshie est un Alumni du programme des Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders 2017. Cet article a été précédemment publié ici.  Il prévaut fortement cette idée que nos pouvoirs publics ne sauraient jouer un rôle important pour les startups en Afrique. Dans plusieurs pays, leur nonchalance ou implication maladroite passée laisse dubitatif. Toutefois, c'est la nature historiquement extravertie de nos économies et ses implications qui devrait susciter plus qu'ailleurs un activism ...

The author is an alumna of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders Program 2017.  “Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 13.5% of the global population but less than 1% of global research output” – this is according to a 2018 research article co-authored by eight Vice Chancellors of African universities. The state of knowledge production in sub Saharan Africa is sobering to say the least, and even more so in light of the bold ambitions the continent has for the future, ambitions such as ...

This article was originally published on RBC Royal Bank's innovation & perspective section. Kevin Vuong, Executive Lead, International & Lecturer, University of Toronto, Canada and Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leader Alum 2018 contributed to this piece. From the route you take home to where you choose to go for lunch, we have our own inherent preferences that predispose us to a particular decision. And while we assume that our choices are rational, we know that isn’t always ...

The co-author, Bertrand Bio-Mama, is an alumnus of the Emerging Leaders Program 2017. Les échanges commerciaux ont, depuis des siècles, été au cœur des enjeux économiques à travers le monde. L’histoire nous apprend, par exemple, qu’au XVIIIème siècle, la recherche de nouveaux marchés avait poussé l’Europe à aller à la conquête du monde. En effet, les échanges commerciaux représentent un instrument important, voire vital, pour la croissance de l’économie et le progrès social. De nos ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2017 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Globalization has led to discourses on leadership and management having different perspectives. Today, one of the discourses includes gender diversity in leadership positions across organizations. The data continuously shows that women’s access to the coveted C-suite and management positions in organizations are comparatively limited. Therefore, this piece examines women’s representation on African cor ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2015 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Five brief bullet points: this was the entire contents of President Jair Bolsonaro’s political plan presented during the 2018 Brazilian Presidential race detailing his foreign policy ambitions. Besides the pro-Trump rhetoric, little was known regarding Mr. Bolsonaro’s international relations plan. Elected with 55.13% of the valid votes in a second-round turn, the victory of the Social Liberal Party (PS ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2016 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program People centered development is the crux of the African Union’s (AU) new Agenda 2063 initiative. Its overall goal is a Pan African transformation and development of its member countries, while reframing the continent’s presence on the global stage. Fortunately, women’s equality is one of its aims, addressing discrimination, gender-based violence, and empowerment, to name a few. As developed nations like ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program As European citizens wake up on Monday morning, democracy is alive and well in Europe. Voter turnout increased to 50,5% compared to with 42,6% in 2014, the highest for two decades as voters across the continent responded to the populist threat. Anti-EU, populist and nationalist parties have seen gains (around 115 seats) and as a committed European i am saddened to see more voters turn to populists for ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Last year Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took a big step toward stabilizing the Horn of Africa when he agreed to sign a long-disputed peace agreement with Eritrea - one that previous Ethiopian governments had refused to sign beca of the border demarcation within the agreement would seem to leave Ethiopia to blame for sparking the conflict in 1998 that eventually caused as many as a quarter of a mi ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Tech industries, despite leading the charge for change in many areas of modern life, have traditionally been one of the worst industries for gender equality. But now, it looks like technology itself could finally start to break down some of the barriers to entry and alter the socio-economic landscape beyond recognition. It could put women and under-represented minorities on the financial and technologi ...

The author is an alumna of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program The success of a Spanish far right party, Vox, wining 12 seats as a result of the regional elections in Andalucía, made the headlines in December 2018. The triumph of Vox was even more remarkable, as the party has gained 395.879 votes, in comparison to 18.017 received in 2015 elections. Marie Le Pen and Geert Wilders, leaders of other European far right parties rushed to congratulate Santiago Abascal, o ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program On a Saturday evening in March at an upscale gallery in Johannesburg’s CBD, the lights went out.  A child in the crowd yelped in shock, but most of the adults let out a gentle sigh of resignation. An attendant came by soon after to assure that it wasn’t load shedding and that the power would be reconnected shortly, but we had become inured to the darkness and the idea that electricity wasn’t something ...

The author is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Arable land per capita availability has been steadily decreasing over the last decades, from 0.5 hectare per capita in 1945 to 0.2 hectares per capita in 2016. Worldwide farmers have been, more or less, addressing the intensification challenge by incorporating new technologies, products, and techniques into their farming systems. The intensification challenge also implied a consolidation of the farming ...

The author of this blog, Ahmed Rachid El Khattabi, is an alumnus of the 2018 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program Rapid urbanization and climate change are two of the biggest challenges for cities. As much of the world is urbanizing, cities are growing thirstier, constantly seeking out new water supplies to keep up with demand. These challenges are especially significant for many growing cities that, due to historical reasons, are not located near water resources. Climate ch ...

La 7ème édition de la conférence internationale Atlantic Dialogues, organisée par Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), à Marrakech du 13 au 15 décembre 2018, a été une nouvelle occasion de débattre de manière transatlantique des grandes questions économiques et géopolitiques du moment. Sous le thème « Dynamiques atlantiques : surmonter les points de rupture », il y a beaucoup été question de la politique étrangère des Etats-Unis, mais aussi de la montée du populisme, avec l’exemp ...

“ Il faut quitter le pouvoir quand la loi et les urnes l’imposent ” Vétéran de la guerre de libération contre l’occupant portugais, et acteur majeur de la démocratisation de son pays, l’ancien Président capverdien fait partie des rares dirigeants africains qui ont quitté le pouvoir de manière démocratique. Dans l’entretien qui suit, il dresse le bilan des indépendances africaines, livre ses impressions sur la situation de la démocratie en Afrique, et analyse quelques grands évèneme ...

Nigerian and « design thinking process » expert, Ade Mabogunje has worked in Africa, India and Europe, before settling in California, where he is a Director at Stanford University. What does it take exactly for innovation to happen ? Such is the line of his thinking and teaching. He’s been invited twice to the 2016 and 2017 Atlantic Dialogues to share his knowledge with two cohorts of 50 Emerging Leaders from Africa, Europe and the Americas, selected by the OCP Policy Center. This P ...

La conférence Atlantic Dialogues 2017 s'est poursuivie le 14 décembre à Marrakech en passant progressivement de l'économie à la géopolitique. Des personnalités du Nord et du Sud se sont répondues, dans un débat franc et ouvert.  Hubert Védrine, ancien ministre français des Affaires étrangères, a livré son analyse de la diplomatie mondiale en ces termes : « Tous les pays défendent leurs intérêts et développent des idées, mais une dizaine seulement ont une vraie politique étrangère. L ...

Sous cet intitulé, la seconde journée des Atlantic Dialogues, le 14 décembre, a abordé la question de l’éducation. Une urgence absolue, compte tenu de la transition démographique en cours en Afrique et de la persistance d’un fort chômage des jeunes – même diplômés – dans de nombreux pays. Mme Assia Bensahlah Alaoui, Ambassadeur itinérant du Roi du Maroc Mohammed VI, figure respectée qui milite pour un mieux vivre ensemble dans l’islam, a évoqué le “besoin de réhabiliter l’enseigneme ...

As I arrived in Casablanca, I swerved between the crowds and baggage carousels to find someone I had never met before. That day in Casablanca was my first as a U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar seeking to learn more about Morocco’s energy sector. Only three months into my time in Morocco, I have had the chance to befriend young Moroccans and share conversations about Morocco’s burgeoning economy and its plans to build the world’s largest solar power plant. These Moroccan youth also s ...

A clear African perspective and a candid debate… This is how the 6th edition of the Atlantic Dialogues high-level conference, organized by the Moroccan think tank OCP Policy Center in Marrakech, has started this morning. The six authors of the 2017 edition of the annual report Atlantic Currents, published by the OCP Policy Center, have debated with the room - some 350 participants - on the crucial questions of African migration, economic integration, and the possibilities of a conti ...

La nouvelle cohorte des Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders a convergé le 10 décembre à Marrakech, pour faire connaissance et suivre un programme spécial de deux jours, avant le début de la conférence de haut niveau Atlantic Dialogues (13-15 décembre). Selectionnés sur dossier par le think tank marocain OCP Policy Center, ces 50 jeunes issus de 25 nationalités différentes, âgés de 23 à 35 ans, ont suivi ce 11 décembre, entre autres, un atelier sur les « Compétences et les métiers d ...

The new cohort of Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders has arrived in Marrakech ! 50 young professionals aged between 23 and 35 and and carrying 25 different nationalities are following workshops. In the program today : « Technological changes, skills and jobs of tomorrow », with The Nigerian scientist Ade Mabogunje, a design thinking specialist from Stanford University (USA) and Martine Kappel, Danish expert on « self-realization » and founder of True North Leadership in Kenya. Ade ...

This year, under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the OCP Policy Center (OCPPC) - in collaboration with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS) - hosted and organized the fifth Atlantic Dialogues, gathering over 300 high-level international public- and private-sector leaders from the Atlantic Basin to discuss cross-regional issues ranging from economic and social development, security and trade, to migration, resources, and energy. This year’s event, loca ...