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
    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 ...
  • 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

    24
    3:00 pm February 2022
    Rising commodities prices are a common concern whether at the consumer level, or large industrials and fortune 500s. While the evolution of consumer prices was close to 2% in the USA and stuck below 1.5% in Europe pre-COVID, with oil prices and the direction of industrial metals and agricultural raw materials prices in decline, the current situation is just the opposite. Since economies bottomed out in June 2020, energy prices and non-energy commodities including agriculture and metals have soared even begging the question of whether we are entering a commodity super-cycle. Originally, this movement was initiated by constraints on the supply side: ramifications of weather events on crops, reduced supplies as a result of sanitary measures, tight oil production quotas etc. Logi ...
  • From

    23
    4:30 pm February 2022
    Les hostilités commerciales entre la Chine et les États-Unis, qui se sont intensifiées sous la présidence de D. Trump et qui se sont poursuivies sous l'administration américaine actuelle, marquent un tournant dans la libéralisation de l'économie mondiale depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le système commercial mondial est en ruine en raison de cette guerre commerciale, ainsi que du démantèlement du processus de règlement des différends de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce et des violations fréquentes des règles par ses membres. Cependant le système commercial d'après-guerre ne touche pas à sa fin ; il évolue plutôt vers un ensemble d'interactions commerciales plus compliquées, politiques et controversées. La nouvelle structure sera très probablement basée sur une O ...
  • From

    16
    5:30 pm February 2022
    Rida Lyammouri, Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South, will be speaking at the webinar “security and governence in africa: sahel and libya” organized by frica Study Group in partnership with The Middle East Institute. The security dynamics of the Maghreb and the Sahel are intertwined and the consequences of the Libyan conflict on the Sahel have been serious. Since its beginning in 2011, this conflict has triggered global concern about the economic, security, and geostrategic impacts on the Sahel. Current threats are posed by the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation, and misuse of arms, as well as the flow of armed groups and mercenaries. Despite considerable international efforts, especially by African countries, the Sahel is still experiencing one of the ...
  • From

    14
    2:00 pm February 2022
    Aomar Ibourk, Senior Fellow au Policy Center for the New South, interviendra lors d’une table ronde dans le cadre d’un webinaire de présentation du rapport « Paysage de l’emploi au Maroc » organisé par la Banque mondiale et le Haut-Commissariat au Plan. L’objectif du webinaire sera de présenter les résultats clés du rapport « Paysage de l’emploi au Maroc » par le Haut-Commissariat au Plan et par la Banque mondiale, suivi par une discussion sur les principaux faits saillants du rapport et la présentation des points de vue des différents panélistes sur le marché du travail marocain et les perspectives de l’emploi au Maroc. A l’issue de ces présentations, une table ronde de discussion autour du rapport sera animée. Cet évènement aura lieu le Lundi 14 Février 2022 à 14 :00 (GM ...
  • Authors
    Benjamin Augé
    While the Brent oil prices in London have been fluctuating between 20 and 35 dollars per barrel for several weeks, and while American oil prices in New York even reached negative values on 20 April, most African oil-producing countries have, at the end of 2019, passed their 2020 budgets on the basis of rather optimistic forecasts, sometimes betting on an increase in expenditure financed by borrowing (Nigeria). Some of these countries were expecting Brent prices to be rather high in ...
  • Authors
    L'environnement dans lequel fonctionnent les systèmes financiers des pays arabes du Sud de la Méditerranée (PASM)1 a changé ces deux dernières décennies. Ces systèmes pays ont connu de profondes mutations depuis le déclenchement de la crise financière internationale. Certes ils n’ont pas subi de conséquences directes de la crise, mais la dégradation de la croissance mondiale a eu des effets majeurs sur les économies de ces pays. Les tensions politiques de la région ont aussi forteme ...