Back

Redesigning Global Finance

January 30, 2025
Related topics: 
Economy

In this episode of Redesigning Global Finance, we explore the evolving landscape of global financial governance, focusing on how institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and regional development banks are adapting to new economic realities and global crises. The episode examines how financial systems must evolve to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and highlights the transformative role of digital technologies such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, and fintech in reshaping financial infrastructure and promoting financial inclusion. At the same time, it addresses the regulatory, security, and governance challenges these innovations present. The discussion centers on the urgent reforms needed to ensure financial resilience, aligning capital flows with sustainable development in emerging markets, and the changing role of traditional financial institutions in the face of rising digital finance.

Speakers
Ahmed Ouhnini
Economist, Policy Center for the New South
Ahmed Ouhnini is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South. His research area covers agricultural economics, human and social development. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and has also a record of working in consulting services in Morocco. Ahmed holds an engineering Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Development from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes and a Master’s Degree in Law, Economics and Management from the Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne Institute of Development. ...
Ferid Belhaj
Senior Fellow
Ferid Belhaj took up the position of World Bank Vice President for Middle East and North Africa on July 1, 2018. Prior to this, he served as the Chief of Staff of the President of the World Bank Group for 15 months. From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Belhaj was World Bank Director for the Middle East, in charge of work programs in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Iran, based in Beirut, Lebanon. In this capacity, he led the Bank’s engagement on the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the region, including the creation of new financing instruments to help countries hosting forcibly displaced people; the ramping up of the Bank drive towards the reconstruction and recovery of Iraq during and after the ISIS invasion and the scaling up of the Bank's commitments to Lebanon and Jordan. Befo ...
Masood Ahmed
President of the Center for Global Development
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Download PDF
    Morocco’s New Geo-Economics: Implications for U.S.-Moroccan Partnership
    Authors
    Ian Lesser
    November 18, 2013
    This policy brief argues for a closer relationship between Morocco and the United States. Morocco’s geo-economic position is evolving in ways that will shape U.S. and international interests in the country and open new avenues for cooperation. Key drivers of change in this context include Morocco’s stake in greater economic integration in the Maghreb, a growing role in Africa, new energy and infrastructure projects, and the emergence of Morocco as a hub for communications around th ...
  • Download PDF
    Contribution au débat sur la colocalisation au Maghreb
    Authors
    Mihoub Mezouaghi
    November 1, 2013
    Le discours sur la « colocalisation » est chargé de bonnes intentions à l’attention des pays du sud de la Méditerranée qui, depuis quelques années, réclament avec insistance une contrepartie à l’accès à leur marché (notamment en matière de transfert de technologie pour permettre d’accélérer leur industrialisation). La « colocalisation » est alors présentée comme une « forme avancée de la délocalisation ». Mais, ce discours s’adresse en même temps à l’opinion publique française lorsq ...
  • Download PDF
    The Fractured Ocean: Current Challenges to Maritime Policy in the Wider Atlantic
    Authors
    John B. Richardson
    Armando Marques Guedes
    Xavier de la Gorce
    Anne-François de Saint Salvy
    Paul Holthus
    November 29, 2012
    This paper examines the challenges posed by human activity on the Atlantic Ocean itself, and around its coasts, looking at it not so much as a vast expanse separating the Americas from Africa and Europe but rather as a shared resource and an important connector. All littoral states face a common challenge in maintaining its value as a foundation for sustained “blue growth” in the years to come. In Chapter 1, Armando Marques Guedes traces the evolution of the economic activities that ...
  • Download PDF
    Les relations économiques du Maghreb avec la Chine et l'Inde
    Authors
    Françoise Nicolas
    January 1, 2011
    La montée en puissance de la Chine et de l’Inde domine les débats économiques depuis quelques années déjà. Poursuivant une stratégie d’internationalisation résolue, les entreprises chinoises et indiennes sont désormais présentes dans bon nombre de régions du globe. Ce dynamisme n’a pas manqué de susciter des inquiétudes mais aussi des espoirs, notamment dans le monde en développement, où ces deux pays sont perçus comme des partenaires potentiellement plus bienveillants que les pays ...
  • Download PDF
    The United States' economic strategy and presence in the Maghreb
    Authors
    Kassim Bouhou
    September 17, 2010
    Before the 9/11 events, US-Maghreb relations were growing stronger, especially after the United States had long left the floor to the Maghreb’s “natural” European partner. Therefore the American action in this region was in line with a mechanism previously set off by Clinton Administration member, Stuart Eizenstat, which aimed at reducing intra regional obstacles and stimulating American investments towards an area where Americans were little-represented. Hence Washington seemed mor ...
  • Download PDF
    Migrations, remittances and development - Comparing experiences from Mexico and Maghreb
    Authors
    Flore Gubert
    September 1, 2010
    The potential synergy between development and migration has become a key feature of most international migration politics. However, this relationship is far from evident. Flore Gubert helps better understand the complexity of this relationship through the comparison of two regional contexts (Mexico and North Africa), and shows how the political and economic context prevailing in the countries of origin modifies the link between migration and development. This Note de l'Ifri is the ...

  • From

    06
    11:00 am October 2026

    Morocco as a Connector State: A Winning Strategy in a Fragmented World

    Dans un environnement international reconfiguré, les économies à revenu intermédiaire poursuivent leur processus de convergence dans des conditions plus exigeantes. La fragmentation géopolitique et la réorganisation des chaînes de valeur mondiales modifient les logiques d'insertion productive, tandis que les tensions sur le système monétaire international pèsent sur le financement des économies en développement. L'accélération des transitions technologique et énergétique redistribue par ailleurs les avantages comparatifs et exige des capacités d'adaptation que tous les pays ne peuvent mobiliser au même degré. Les moteurs classiques du rattrapage se trouvent fragilisés, et le risque d'enlisement dans le piège du revenu intermédiaire se pose de manière plus pressante.C'est dans ...

  • From

    14
    5:30 pm July 2026

    حديث الثلاثاء: مراقبة الأسعار والأسواق في المغرب — دور المنافسة

    تناقش هذه الحلقة واقع المنافسة في الأسواق المغربية وعلاقتها بتطور الأسعار والقدرة الشرائية للمواطنين. كما تسلط الضوء على أبرز العوامل المؤثرة في الأسعار، سواء المرتبطة بالمنافسة أو بتكاليف الإنتاج وسلاسل التوزيع. ويتناول الحوار دور مجلس المنافسة والسلطات العمومية والفاعلين الاقتصاديين في ضمان أسواق أكثر تنافسية، إلى جانب الإصلاحات الكفيلة بتعزيز المنافسة ودعم الاقتصاد الوطني وحماية المستهلك. ...

  • From

    30
    5:30 pm June 2026

    حديث الثلاثاء: الشباب المغربي والعمل المناخي: من المشاركة إلى صناعة القرار

    في هذه الحلقة، نناقش دور الشباب المغربي في مواجهة التغير المناخي، من خلال إبراز مساهماتهم في العمل المناخي والتحديات التي تعيق تأثيرهم في صناعة القرار. كما نسلط الضوء على تقاطع المناخ مع قضايا الأمن والتنمية، وعلى أهمية تمكين الشباب وإشراكهم بشكل فعلي في بلورة سياسات مناخية أكثر استدامة وشمولاً. وتطرح الحلقة سؤال الانتقال من المشاركة الرمزية إلى التأثير الحقيقي في السياسات العمومية. كما تؤكد أن مواجهة التغير المناخي مسؤولية جماعية تتطلب تعبئة طاقات الشباب والمؤسسات والمجتمع المدني ...