L'année 2021 a été le théâtre de perturbations géopolitiques et de troubles géoéconomiques à l'échelle mondiale. À mesure que les événements s'accélèrent, nous entrons dans une période de transition géopolitique et géoéconomique ; la fin d'un cycle historique laissant présager les perspectives incertaines d'un nouveau cycle. Nous assistons désormais à un véritable changement à l'échelle planétaire, avec de multiples points de pression et forces motrices : géopolitiques, économiques, climatiques, technologiques, sécuritaires et sanitaires.
Le continent africain, qui s'est inscrit au cours des deux dernières décennies dans un processus de diversification des partenariats économiques, politiques et militaires aux niveaux des États et des institutions, tant au niveau continental que régional, risque d'en être affecté à des degrés divers. En effet, les conditions économiques mondiales combinées aux défis structurels de l'Afrique exacerbent des tendances sous-jacentes aux conséquences géopolitiques irréversibles : En premier lieu, la guerre en Ukraine survient à un moment où la scène géopolitique mondiale connaît des tensions entre la Chine et les États-Unis et où il est difficile de définir les points de repère du nouvel ordre mondial. Elle devient donc un enjeu dans une dynamique déjà ancrée et soutenue par une logique de solution optimale (coût minimal et bénéfice maximal). Vient ensuite la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique, qui est mise en péril. La capacité d'accéder en toute sécurité à des quantités suffisantes de nourriture est sévèrement compromise par la succession de conflits, de catastrophes naturelles et d'épidémies. Qui plus est, le changement climatique accroît le risque de conflit dans de nombreuses régions en exacerbant les facteurs sociaux, économiques et environnementaux existants. Les populations de ces zones comptent parmi les plus vulnérables à la crise climatique et les plus négligées par l'action climatique. Enfin, la faiblesse et l'instabilité institutionnelles de plusieurs États constituent des obstacles majeurs dans la lutte contre la violence et la pauvreté. Dépasser cette vulnérabilité, dans ses dimensions économiques et environnementales, est une priorité vitale pour l'Afrique.
Ce constat soulève quelques questions fondamentales :
Quelles sont les répercussions de la guerre sur les États africains en termes de lutte d'influence sur le continent et de contraintes économiques, militaro-sécuritaires et diplomatiques ? Quelles sont les stratégies individuelles et collectives de résilience et d'affirmation que les États africains doivent mettre en œuvre face à cette situation ? Quelles sont les implications de l'insécurité alimentaire en Afrique ? Comment améliorer la sécurité alimentaire sur le continent ? Quels sont les défis que pose le changement climatique à l'Afrique ? Quelles sont les spécificités des États fragiles en Afrique ? Comment renforcer durablement les États dans les contextes post-conflits ?
Speakers
Younes Abouyoub
Morocco, Usa
Director of Governance, State-Building and Conflict Prevention for the MENA Region, United Nations
Younes Abouyoub is a senior United Nations official with a long experience in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, governance, and sustainable development. He previously worked as the Director of the political office of the UN Under-Secretary General for Conflict Prevention; Senior political advisor to the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Burundi. He directed the political office of the UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Yemen and acted as his Senior special advisor. Among several other positions with the United Nations, Mr Abouyoub was also the senior political officer in charge of the regional affairs in the UN political mission to Libya (UNSMIL), and Senior Regional Expert in the Un Security Council Panel of Experts on Sudan (Darfur). He has also worked in different ...
Yonas Adeye Adeto
Commissioner, the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission and Former Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS)
Associate Professor of Peace Studies, Former Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University (AAU); Current Commissioner, the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission (ENDC). He has published peer reviewed articles in international journals, and edited book chapters on: Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Security Sector Governance, Peace Education, Preventing Violent Extremism/Terrorism, Diplomacy, International Relations and Global as well as Regional Security. He has taught at Addis Ababa University over twenty-five years and is currently offering various courses related to theories, issues and praxis of Peace, Global and Regional Security to MA and PhD programmes at IPSS and elsewhere in Africa and beyond. Dr. Adeto holds a PhD in Peace Stud ...
Fatma Ahmed
Sweden
Capacity Building Specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
As the Capacity Building Specialist at the UNDP Regional Programme for Africa, Fatma Ahmed supports the African Union on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. For over 9 years, she has worked across Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, focusing on stabilization, early recovery initiatives, countering and preventing violent extremism and conflict prevention. Fatma formerly acted as the Deputy Chief of Party during the establishment and setting up of the IGAD Center of Excellence in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in the Horn and East Africa region.
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Nezha Alaoui M’hammdi
Senior Fellow
Mrs. Nezha Alaoui M’Hammdi is Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South (since 2020) and the current Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco to Ethiopia and Djibouti since 2016. She has served as first Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco after its return to the African Union by 2017, and to the Peace and Security Council of the AU (April 2018). She is currently Dean of the Council of Arab League Ambassadors to Ethiopia
She also served from 2013 to 2016 as an Ambassador of Morocco to Ghana, Togo and Benin, being the first Moroccan female Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Africa.
After joining the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco in 1989, Mrs. Nezha Alaoui M’Hammdi served mainly in Italy and Ghana.
During her assignment, from 2 ...
Mohamed Ait Kadi
Morocco
President, General Council of Agricultural Development
Pr. Mohamed Ait-Kadi is currently President of the General Council of Agricultural Development. The Council is a high-level policy think tank of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery, Rural Development and Forestry in Morocco where he has also served as Secretary General and Director General of the Irrigation Department. He is President of the Scientific Committee of the Foundation AAA (Adaptation of African Agriculture to climate change)
Mohamed is a member of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology and Professor at the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Hassan II. He is also a member of the Academy of Agriculture of France, Oslo International Water Academy and the International Advisory Panel of the Bioeconomy World Summit..
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Abdelhak Bassou
Senior Fellow
Abdelhak Bassou is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Bassou has had an extensive career in Moroccan National Security, where he served in various capacities including as head of the border division from 1978 to 1993. He was the former director of the Royal Institute of Police in 1998 and served as Head of Regional Security (Errachidia 1999-2003, Sidi Kacem 2003-2005) and as Central Director of General Intelligence from 2006 to 2009.
He holds a master's degree in political science and international studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences in Rabat. His academic research delves into ...
Lassina Diarra
Ivory Coast
Researcher and Consultant, Centre for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara
Lassina Diarra has a degree in political science. He is a teacher-researcher at the University Institute of Abidjan and at the École nationale supérieure des armées du Bénin. Lassina is currently a researcher at Timbuktu Institute in Dakar. His research focuses on security and defense issues in West Africa, particularly terrorism and violent extremism in the West African region. He is the author of several books including ECOWAS face to transnational terrorism mechanisms and strategies of fight Ed. L'Harmattan and scientific articles: Facing Terrorism Radicalization and perception of the terrorist threat in the extreme north of Côte d'Ivoire: the case of Bounkani.
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Karim El Aynaoui
Executive President
Karim El Aynaoui is Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South. He is also Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster. Karim El Aynaoui is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations. At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa. Karim El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing ...
Badreddine El Harti
Director, Security Institutions Service, United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)
Mr. Badreddine El harti is currently Director, Security Institutions Service for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. He served in 2021-2022 as Head, Ceasefire Monitoring Component in Libya too. Previously, he was the UN Special Adviser to the President of Burkina Faso for national security (2017-2021) and the Deputy Chief of policy at the UN Secretariat in New York (2011-2015). He has served and supported UN engagement in mediation, human security, Security Sector Governance, Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration and Protection of Civilians in Haiti, Central African Republic, Libya, Yemen and Syria.,
He has also held senior responsibilities with the Moroccan defense institution as Chief of research and of training & equipme ...
Serge Daniel Gbogbohoundada
Benin, France
Journalist and Writer
Journalist-writer of Franco-Beninese nationality, Serge Daniel Gbogbohoundada is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille (France). He is the winner of the Norbert Zongo Prize for the best investigative journalist of the continent (2019) and Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et de la Culture in France. He is also the author of four reference books on the Sahel and the former Ivorian rebellion
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Nchimunya Hamukoma
South Africa
Head: Funder Partnerships & Strategic Projects, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
Nchimunya Hamukoma is the Head: Funder Partnerships & Strategic Projects Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a South African based youth employment organization serving 2.5 million young people through their online mobile platform SAYouth.In her role she is responsible for driving and incubating new priority sectors within the organization such as Micro- enterprise and Agriculture and working with funder partners to co-create impactful grant programs. She is an economist & policy strategist passionate about optimizing the conditions for human thriving. Her work focuses on understanding the building blocks of Africa's future and helping governments and organizations solve complex problems. During Covid-19 she worked with organizations to forecast th ...
Eniola Mafe
Nigeria
Founder/ Principal, EMA Advisory and Lead for 2030Vision Initiative
Eniola Mafe is a strategist and international development leader with a track record of over 15 years in facilitating high-level engagement, frameworks for systemic change, program implementation and effective strategy for sustainable development in developing countries. She is the Founder and Principal at Eniola Mafe Advisory focused on helping those who think differently and those who want to think differently about development and social impact. Eniola led the growth and development of 2030 Vision Initiative, focused on harnessing 4IR technologies to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals within the next decade. In partnership with UNDP, Arm and more than 20 top technology companies, this platform provides a focal point to mobilize more concerted and coope ...
Hamza Rkha Chaham
Morocco
Co-founder and Managing Director, SOWIT
Hamza is the co-founder of SOWIT, a start-up providing decision support systems to African farmers. He is a 2018 Marshall German Fund and Policy Center for the New South Emerging Leader.
SOWIT is incorporated in France, Morocco and Senegal and leverages all the power of remote-sensing, AI and agronomy to provide key insights to farmers enabling them to optimize crucial operations such as fertilization or harvest.
Hamza is co-author of the landmark report published by the African Union entitled “Drones on the horizon: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture”. The report forms the basis upon which the AU Executive Council issued the Decision EX. CL/Dec. 986-1007 (XXXII), recommending all Member States harness the opportunities offered by drones for precision ...
David Michael Terungwa
Nigeria
Executive Director, Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation
Michael Terungwa David is the founder of GIFSEP- Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation based in Nigeria. He is the Africa Regional Coordinator for Citizens Climate International and also an Executive Board member of NGO Committee on Sustainable Development- NY.David is a PhD candidate in Environmental Management, a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning and Projection, a degree in Agricultural Engineering with a specialization in Soil and Water Management and a post graduate certificate in Renewable energy. David is the author of a book: Understanding Climate Change- A guide for Secondary Schools in Nigeria. His notable initiatives include: Trees and Gardens for all, School for Internally Displaced Persons Camps #Solar4IDPCamps, Solar for schools an ...
Rama Yade
Director, Africa Center Atlantic Council
Ambassador Rama Yade is director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center and senior fellow for the Europe Center. She is also a teacher of African affairs at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco and, since 2017, at Sciences Po Paris. Prior to joining the Council, she was a consultant for the World Bank, advising the institution on education, youth, sports, human capital, and disability issues in Africa. She also has strong experience in the private sector as an editor in London, where she overviewed a collection of books about African millennials, and as director for development at a French consulting firm in corporate and social responsibility. Ambassador Yade has over a decade of experience working in French, European, and international politics. At the age of thirt ...
Fadel Sereme
Burkina Faso
Specialist in organizational engineering and planning & Expert in marketing management and conflict management
Fadel Sereme is a specialist in organizational engineering and planning; an expert in marketing management and conflict management. He graduated from the University of Ouagadougou and the African Institute of Management in law and international business.
Young and experienced, he has several strings to his bow. Indeed, he has held positions in the public administration, in political bodies and associations, as well as in the private sector.
Currently a politician and businessman in Burkina Faso, Mr. Sereme began his professional career in the private sector as head of studies, planning and training of I2E consulting from 2012 to 2017. Then, he occupied the position of commercial manager of COGEFA / ex OBOUF group one of the largest distribution companies in Burkina Faso. Bel ...
Sâ Benjamin Traoré
Professor of Law, Faculty of Governance, Economics and Social Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (FGSES-UM6P)
Professor Traoré holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), an LLM in International Law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a Master in Public Law from the University from Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Prior to joining UM6P, Prof Traoré worked as the Project Manager for the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA). His work and research focused on the role of law in regulating business-related human rights and environmental impacts in Africa, traditional fields of international law and international relations, peace and security in Africa, human rights, international humanitarian law as well as the law related to refugees and internally displaced persons. He has published many academic articles ...
Gilles Yabi
Founder and Executive Director, WATHI
Gilles Olakounlé Yabi is the founder and CEO of WATHI, the West Africa Citizen Think Tank launched in 2015. WATHI is a unique participative and multidisciplinary citizen-focused think tank on West African issues (www.wathi.org). Gilles Yabi worked as senior political analyst and later as West Africa Project Director of the International Crisis Group, a think tank dedicated to conflict prevention and resolution. He led the research, policy, advocacy and media work of Crisis Group in West Africa and worked particularly on the political crises and conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Nigeria. Holding a Ph.D in Development economics from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France, Gilles Yabi also worked as a journalist for the weekly magazine Jeune Afriqu ...
