Trade

Last week marked my twenty-third consecutive week attending the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. While I no longer participate in the official sessions, I continue to be invited to the many side conventions and debates that surround them. A key moment is always the release of the IMF's World Economic Outlook report. This year, it drew particular attention due to curiosity about how the institution would project the impacts of the tariff war initiated by Trump’s ...

The United States is at a critical juncture, facing a pivotal dilemma: preserving global leadership in a world it no longer fully controls. While it proclaims its primacy in the liberal international order, its actions tell a different story—one marked by tariffs, reshoring policies, and an open attempt to contain China’s rise. This strategy is driven less by long-term vision than domestic political calculus, underscoring the urgent need for strategic recalibration. ...

  Marcus Vinicius De Freitas Professor, China Foreign Affairs University Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South The Chinese government’s white paper, ‘China’s Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations,[1]’ issued on April 9, 2025, in response to the escalating tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, is not just a diplomatic response to the escalating tensions with the United States. It is a meticulously crafted strategic document that pr ...

When President Donald Trump gave his State of the Union address to a joint session of the United States Congress on March 4, 2025, many of his announced tariffs went into effect. These included a 25% levy on most goods imports from Canada (10% on oil and gas) and Mexico (though Trump subsequently exempted Canadian and Mexican imports that satisfy USMCA rules of origin requirements); and 20% (doubling the 10% implemented in February) on all imports from China. A 25% tariff has been i ...

The road to decarbonizing the planet runs through the energy transition, which includes the shift from fossil-fueled cars to renewable energy vehicles. This automotive transition is unfolding as a true revolution in the industry. The evolution toward electric and hybrid vehicles has come in tandem with the ascent of Chinese producers. In the current context of geopolitical and technological rivalries, the automotive transition has been marked by an intense trade war, with implicati ...

This paper examines the implications of the U.S.-China trade war for developing countries, particularly in light of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The study traces the origins and escalation of the trade conflict, analyzing its multiple impacts on global trade patterns and economic growth. While some developing countries have benefited from trade diversion and supply-chain shifts, others, especially resource-exporting nations and the least-developed countries, have faced signi ...

  This paper was originally published on t20brasil.org The resurgence of Neo protectionism as a reality is creating a pressing need to establish New Industrial Policies (NIPs) capable of striking a balance between Global Value Chains (GVC) managers' quest for efficiency and policy makers' need for more increasing resilience or national security in a turmoiled geopolitical landscape. Furthermore, although NIPs might pursue legitimate non-economic objectives, they are often captured ...

The 2024 Annual Report on the African Economy is dedicated to monetary and financial issues on the Continent. There are three reasons for this choice. African economies are exposed to macro-financial instabilities partly generated by global monetary and financial turbulence. The Continent’s currencies and financial systems are engaged in very different dynamics, where routine methods and daring, if not risky, practices coexist. The question of the architecture of the internationa ...

Carbon trading have long been touted as a silver bullet to channelise climate finance to African countries lacking the capital to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The erstwhile ‘Kyoto Protocol’ and its successor ‘The Paris Agreement’, though much more comprehensive and wider in scope, both recognize the importance of carbon trading (a form of carbon pricing) in combatting climate change, and in the Paris Agreement the same is enshrined under Article 6 and its sub-c ...

President Biden's announcement of new tariffs on China, though not economically significant on its own, symbolizes the deepening decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies. These tariffs, supported by both major political parties, represent the latest step in a broader strategy that favors policy interventions over traditional free-market principles and aims to protect domestic workers, maintain technological leadership, and prioritize economic security. This policy brief discusse ...

As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) enters its fifth year, the rules of origin for trade in goods are still being finalised, but the institutional architecture is nearly complete with increased capacity, technical committees and new supporting instruments. Despite this progress in AfCFTA ‘policy supply’, meaningful trade under the AfCFTA is still to begin. For this to happen, there must be ‘policy demand’ from the private sector to use the agreement’s range of protoc ...

The issue of environmental degradation represents a significant global challenge. It manifests in various forms, including physical alterations such as air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, marine pollution and biodiversity loss. These changes are proven to be linked to human activities, such as energy production and consumption, tourism and agriculture. Additionally, factors like population growth and health and safety concerns contribute to environmental decline. Is Gro ...

The writing of this Report started in november 2023 and benefited during six months from the quality of discussions in the Policy center. Paul Isbel, Professor at UM6P, was a relentless proofreader who generously brought his outstanding competence in economy and political economy. Stephen Gardner went beyond his role as linguistic proofreader and showed an admirable understanding of the substance at stake. Under the direct supervision of Professor Abdelaziz Aitali, the Economic Depa ...

Interview with Sara Mokaddem, Manager of the Monitoring and Strategic Analysis Unit at the Policy Center for the New South, conducted by our columnist Helmut Sorge.   Oil tankers, mega cruise ships, and giant container vessels that once moved through secure waterways—the lifelines of global trade—are now menaced by missile and drone attacks, carried out by Houthi forces in Yemen. Meanwhile, pirates are active off the shores of Somalia, and Singapore or Hong Kong flagged vessels, a ...

Greater female participation in the labor market and in international trade have been recognized as important drivers for economic growth and essential targets in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, achieving both targets simultaneously will be difficult, if not impossible, in most Middle East and North African (MENA) countries without additional policies to eliminate the remarkably high levels of gender inequality in the labor market. I ...

En octobre 2023, la Chine a organisé le 3ème forum de l'Initiative « Ceinture et Route ». Le choix de la date n’était pas anodin, étant donné qu’elle coïncidait avec la célébration du 10ème anniversaire de l'Initiative. Une initiative aux multiples composantes L’Initiative « Ceinture et Route », également connue sous l’acronyme BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), a été initialement conçue pour permettre à la Chine de renforcer ses liens commerciaux avec les Etats partenaires de son I ...

La pandémie de la Covid-19 était venue contribuer au ralentissement de la cadence des investissements chinois dans le cadre de l’Initiative Ceinture et Route « Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ». Entamée dès 2016, cette tendance à la baisse a été accentuée par les tensions géopolitiques et les problèmes internes qui ont affecté l'économie chinoise. Nonobstant ces contre-temps, la Chine a atteint l’un de ses plus grands objectifs : étendre son influence à travers le monde. À l’occasion ...

The debate on global value chains (GVCs) has emphasized countries’ contributions to value-added creation. From an intercountry perspective, a new body of research is addingto this debate by studying how subnational regions contribute to the indicators in specific countries. Proper assessment of economic contributions is essential for designing incentive policies. This paper analyzes the role played by the main trading partners of Moroccan regions in local value chains. We use input- ...

This paper was originally published on The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) In order for Africa to raise living standards, create employment for youth and diversify exports, it must industrialise. Until recently, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries made limited progress in manufacturing value addition and employment, mirroring the de-industrialisation trend seen in many developing countries. To propel industrialisation, SSA countries should adopt flexible st ...

Multiple shocks faced by the global economy over the past three years have apparently shaken the conventional wisdom on gains from economic integration, and have sparked widespread calls for protectionist and nationalist policies. Is there already evidence of some ‘deglobalization’, or do the factors that underlie globalization remain strong enough despite the shocks? So far, there are no signs of an overall reversal in the long-term trend of greater global trade integration. Howev ...

The global economic environment has changed as the U.S.—and to a less confrontational degree, the European Union—have clearly established a context of technological rivalry with China. Hindering China’s progress in the sophistication of semiconductor production has become a centerpiece of current U.S. foreign policy. While the U.S. is clearly winning the semiconductor war, the picture is different when it comes to clean-energy technology. Both technology wars overlap with access to ...

If we want to understand the implications for growth—particularly the costs—of moving towards a fractured trading system, we can use as a benchmark what happened during the period of what is usually called hyper-globalization or globalization 2.0. Here, I'll try to highlight the relevant aspects, to use them as a benchmark to shine a light on the costs of increasing fragmentation of the trading system. So, what was hyper-globalization or, as Professor Richard Baldwin from the Genev ...

Cette édition du Rapport économique de l’Afrique est construite autour d’une thématique d’une grande actualité : les conséquences des incertitudes et des risques aussi bien sanitaires que climatiques et sécuritaires sur les économies du continent. L’exercice est d’autant plus légitime que la recomposition de l’ordre mondial questionne la place du continent à l’échelle planétaire, sur les plans économique, social et environnemental. L’économie mondiale est confrontée à des défis glo ...

À  l’approche du Sommet africain du climat (Africa Climate Summit), qui se tiendra à Nairobi du 4 au 6 septembre 2023, de très nombreuses organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) ont écrit au président du Kenya, William Ruto, pour lui faire part de leurs inquiétudes concernant l’ordre du jour de ce sommet. Selon ces ONG, les intérêts des entreprises et des pays occidentaux pourraient prendre le pas sur ceux de l’Afrique. Les vraies priorités sont notamment d’éliminer progressivement ...

Kim Ju-ae, supposed daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, was introduced by her father for the first time to the world and 26.1 million citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on November 19, 2022. Her first public appearance was unusual: at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) costing up to $10 million (Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2022). Unlike a DPRK spy satellite launched on May 30, 2023, which broke up in midair before reach ...

At the August 22-24 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said they wanted to use more of their national currencies for cross-border payments, which are currently dominated by the U.S. dollar and other global convertible currencies. Like China and the other BRICS, several other countries have also sought to develop alternative external payment mechanisms. Pairs of countries have agreed to settle commercial and financial transactio ...

Industrial history was written on Monday, May 15, 2023. Mohammed VI, the king of Morocco, celebrated in the Royal Palace a car from Neo Motors, the first ‘Made in Morocco’ car brand, helping drive the nation towards economic prosperity and social stability. Neo Motors vehicles, financed and built by Moroccan entrepreneurs, will soon compete globally with German, Italian, Japanese and Korean cars. The ‘Neon’ (offered for an estimated 170,000 dirhams, or $15,000) will be assembled and ...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have reignited the debate on efficiency versus resilience in international trade and global value chains (GVCs). This policy brief[a] (i) explains the contrasting perspectives of the private sector (primarily seeking efficiency) and the public sector (aiming for resilience); (ii) demonstrates that GVCs are still flourishing, despite some mounting signals of a geo-fragmentation leading to greater reallocation of the GVCs; and (iii) provide ...

This policy brief was originally published on T20 India website   A decade of poor growth, increased poverty, and political instability followed the serious debt difficulties that emerged worldwide in the 1980s. There are concerns that the looming debt crisis could create similar challenges and result in even more severe consequences. However, the current economic climate differs in many ways from that of the 1980s, when international banks and Paris Club creditors held most of th ...

Morocco has made important strides in reducing poverty in the last three decades, thanks in large part to trade and industrial policies aimed at durably inserting the country into world flows of goods, services, and cross-border investment. Since 1992, per capita incomes have tripled (in current US$), contributing to a threefold drop in the Kingdom’s poverty headcount. The country of 37 million features consistently as one of the better-performing and more stable economies in the No ...

The broad thrust of Morocco’s trade and industrial policies over the last thirty years has been to anchor Morocco into world flows of goods, services, and cross-border investment. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising international prices, and a complex geopolitical environment, Moroccans continue to derive significant benefits from their economy’s openness. These include improved consumer choice and welfare, the growing insertion of Moroccan firms into cross ...

Nallely Garza is a 2022 alumna of Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program. Learn more about her here. On March 1, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, confirmed during Tesla’s Investors Day the construction of its next Gigafactory in Monterrey, Mexico, which will represent an investment of 5 billion dollars and the creation of around 6,000 new jobs. The question is, “Why Mexico”? What are the factors that made Mexico win this investment against other countries? Mexico’s automotive indus ...

This policy paper examines India’s growing engagement in North Africa, focusing on five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Despite lacking a distinct regional policy for North Africa, India has amplified its bilateral engagement with these countries, underpinned by a steadfast commitment to the principle of South-South cooperation. Through its strategic moves in North Africa, India has established a powerful southern-west axis for its foreign policy that stretch ...

Face à l’essor des cryptomonnaies, les banques centrales sont en train de réagir en lançant leurs propres monnaies numériques. L’objet de ce Policy Brief est de faire le point sur la préparation des monnaies numériques de banques centrales (MNBC) par les autorités monétaires, un processus qui concerne tous les pays, émergents, en développement, et plus avancés. Il s’agit aussi d’analyser les conditions et certaines des conséquences (pour les banques, pour l’inclusion fin ...

Faced with the rise of cryptocurrencies, central banks are responding by launching their digital currencies. The purpose of this Policy Brief is to provide an update on the preparation of central bank digital currencies (CBDs) by monetary authorities, a process that concerns all emerging, developing, and more advanced countries. It is also about analyzing the conditions and some of the consequences (for banks, for financial inclusion, for the conduct of monetary policy...) of such a ...

In 2010, when I was one of the vice presidents at the World Bank, colleagues I and published a very upbeat book  about the possibility of emerging and developing economies replacing advanced countries as engines of global economic growth. While the latter would be grappling with the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the former, already growing at a faster pace in the previous decade and accounting for more than half of the annual increases in global GDP, had largely shown an ...

Background The African Union in 2018 agreed to implement the world’s second-largest free-trade area measured by number of countries, people, and geographical size, with the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). This agreement will ultimately lead to a continent-wide free trade area consisting of 54 countries with 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion[1]. This equates to about 19%-20% of the GDP of the European Union and China, which are ...

There is a long tradition in transportation planning research in quantifying remoteness in the context of accessibility indicators. Considering an existing system’s network structure and its components’ performance, it is possible to assess the socio-economic impacts of changes in the physical characteristics of specific links that affect critical locations. Nonetheless, the connection between changes in accessibility and their socio-economic consequences frequently relies on using ...

If the recent peaceful transfer of power in Madagascar heralds a new trend, then the Malagasy people can dream big. For decades, the exercise of economic-cum-political power in the hands of a tiny elite has held the entire nation hostage. Today, the high poverty rate—around 80% (2021) stands in stark contrast to the natural resource abundance of this huge enormous island. There is hope, however, that with political stability, the Plan d’Émergence Madagascar (PEM) President Andry R ...

La succession des chocs pandémique, climatique et géopolitique a éprouvé les économies africaines. Les liens commerciaux et financiers avec le monde ne sont plus seulement considérés comme des moteurs de performance, mais aussi comme des sources potentielles de vulnérabilité. La défiance à l’égard de la mondialisation s’est accrue. Parce qu’elle est venue souligner la dépendance du continent, le dérèglement de ses rapports à la nature et sa vulnérabilité face aux tensions géopolitiq ...

Le Maroc a entamé la libéralisation de son commerce extérieur dès le début des années 80 du XXième siècle. Les négociations commerciales des Accords de libre-échange et les engagements contractés auprès de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) ont constitué des moments forts dans le processus d’introduction de réformes plus substantielles au régime du commerce extérieur (engagements sur des horizons de démantèlement, établissement des listes, réforme des barr ...

Le 1er janvier 2021, les pays africains ont lancé la Zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAf). Les caractéristiques actuelles des économies africaines mettent, en effet, en évidence un potentiel d'échanges plus intenses, complexes et diversifiés entre les pays du continent. Elles révèlent en même temps de nombreux handicaps tels que le faible niveau d'industrialisation ou de création de valeur régionale. Plusieurs études d'impact ont été menées sur les e ...

Rwanda is famous for its remarkable socio-economic performance after the ravages of the Genocide against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has followed a state-led development model with stunning results. Despite these substantial accomplishments, Rwanda is still a low-income country with extensive poverty. Its agriculture is still of low productivity and highly vulnerable to climate change. Structural transformation has we ...

Disruptions to global value chains (GVCs) – caused by conflicts, natural disasters, and accidents that close transport routes – and that affect specific regions or sectors, are not unusual. However, in recent years and amid the Covid-19 pandemic, they have become more frequent and severe. High profile, sizeable, and repeated disruptions raise pressing questions: Is the breakdown in many GVCs a temporary glitch, or a permanent phenomenon? Have GVCs become endemically more accident pr ...

L’invasion russe de l'Ukraine a incité l'Union Européenne, en coordination avec d’autres puissances mondiales, à monter en urgence une réponse coordonnée de sanctions sans précédent. La plus emblématique d'entre elles est l'embargo partiel contre le pétrole et autres produits raffinés russes, qui signifie en essence la transition du commerce pétrolier d’une logique économique vers une logique géopolitique. D'où la montée en flèche des cours du pétrole et d'autres matières premières. ...

Avant la pandémie Covid-19, le continent abritait les économies à la croissance la plus rapide du monde et plusieurs pays africains montraient les premiers signes de transformation structurelle et de progrès vers l’émergence économique. Plus de deux ans après la pandémie et les ondes de choc qui en ont résulté, deux questions cruciales se posent : dans quelle mesure le choc sanitaire Covid-19, exacerbé par la crise ukrainienne, a-t-il constitué un tournant dans le processus général ...

Sleepless nights and the tireless search for compromise allowed WTO members to agree on concrete deliverables during the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference held last June. Those results reinforce Multilateralism. And this is a significant gain given the multiplicity of global crises that surround us. The Outcome include 6 Agreements, Declarations and Ministerial Decisions that respond to some of today's challenges, notably on Fisheries and Ocean Sustainability as well as responses to P ...

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s message to the Davos meeting last week referred to the upside risks of “geoeconomic fragmentation”  due to the war in Ukraine. Considering the ongoing rivalry between the United States and China and the alliance between the latter and Russia, the narratives about a West-East division in the global economy have become louder with an end and reversal of globalization. After the 2008 global financial crisis, the belief that globalization an ...

The world food price index collected for the last 60 years by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hit its highest record in March, declining gently in April. Pandemic, war and death in Ukraine, and droughts in the last 2 years… Such a combination looks apocalyptical. Now it is adding global hunger risks, because of the food price crisis. The rise in global food prices started in mid-2020 because supply chain disruptions triggered food stockpiling. Mobility r ...

In addition to the deaths and destruction in Ukraine, the Russian invasion has caused several significant shocks to the global economy. In addition to the geopolitical consequences of the war, reinforcing the downward trend in trade globalization and financial integration, new rounds of disruptions to supply chains and higher commodity prices have already led to downward revisions in economic growth projections, accompanied by higher inflation. The commodity price shock, intensify ...

Last March, a proposal of dollarizing Argentina’s economy arrived at its Congress. We summarize here the potential consequences of such a route in case the bill succeeds in getting approval. First, we point out the broad implications of dollarizing an economy. Then, we set out some cases of Latin American experiences with dollarization. Finally, we address the case of Argentina. The main potential benefit of dollarization would be elimination of domestic inflation, but at a very hig ...

Global value chains (GVCs) are intended to fragment global production among several countries and companies. In this context, national economies have begun processes of insertion and specialization with both social and green objectives, because multinationals (MNEs) create significant negative externalities. Morocco has chosen to develop an integrated economy in global businesses. This country relies on a long-term political vision and some modern infrastructures. The government pro ...

The pros and the cons of regional market integration are well exemplified by the experience of Uruguay, a small, open economy in MERCOSUR, which is a highly protectionist trade bloc, dominated by Argentina and Brazil. With access to such large markets, Uruguay did raise its growth rate during the first decade of MERCOSUR, the 1990s. However, market integration as implemented in MERCOSUR was also problematic in that Uruguay suffered from the high protectionism of Argentina in the for ...

The contrast between Argentina’s rich natural resource endowment and its poor economic performance has been the focus of much socio-political and economic analysis. When it created MERCOSUR with its immediate neighbors, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay in 1991, it had access to a trading bloc with a combined GDP of US$ 419 trillion (2019), making it the 5th largest economy in the world. Joining the MERCOSUR was a break from its protectionist past. But it did not last. Argentina greatl ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the global economy and has challenged the best minds to rethink how to design and implement an effective recovery. Countries in the wider Atlantic region have exhibited differential trajectories in traversing the pandemic. A number of countries in Europe succeeded in vaccinating most of their eligible populations, enabling life to return somewhat to normal. A smaller group of countries in Europe could manage infection rates even more ti ...

La guerre russo-ukrainienne aura des répercussions économiques et politiques dans les années à venir. Dans cette note, nous nous intéressons aux implications économiques de la guerre sur l’économie africaine à court et à long terme. Le conflit survient alors que l’Afrique s’efforce de mettre son économie sur la voie de la reprise, dans un contexte de pressions inflationnistes mondiales et de volatilité des marchés financiers et des matières premières. Alors que les exportateurs d’én ...

The Russian-Ukrainian war will have major economic and political repercussions. In this note, we focus on the war’s economic short and long term implications on the African economy. This conflict comes at very arduous context, where Africa is still struggling to set its economy on the recovery path, amid global inflationary pressures and highly uncertain context. While natural resources countries, especially energy exporters, are sensing opportunities from the crisis, other countrie ...

Le Sommet Union européenne (UE) - Union africaine (UA), qui s’est tenu à Bruxelles les 17 et 18 février 2022, entend marquer un tournant dans les relations entre les deux continents. L’agenda européen pour l’année 2022 met au centre de ses priorités les relations Europe - Afrique. Celles-ci sont aussi l'un des principaux axes défendus par la Présidence française du Conseil de l’Union européenne (PFUE) et le Président français Emmanuel Macron dans de son discours inaugur ...

Using education and elite configurations as the main variables of analysis, this Policy Paper aims to show how higher levels of popular sector incorporation during elite conflicts, namely in the process of formulating and implementing policies related to education reforms, can negatively affect the economic complexity of developing countries. To do so, it analyzes the experiences of Mauritius and Singapore and links foundational political economy theories, particularly developmental ...

The year began with simultaneous signs of a slowdown in global economic growth and a reorientation toward tightening of monetary policies in advanced economies. In its latest Global Economic Prospects released on January 11, the World Bank forecasts that, after a global growth surprisingly at 5.5% last year, it should moderate to somewhere around 4.1% and 3.2%. % in, respectively, 2022 and 2023. In addition to the effects of omicron at the start of the year, less fiscal support and ...

Feeble eyesight may hinder you from finding Puntland on a map, the unrecognized Federal member state in Somalia, Khaatumo State, Jubaland, or Somaliland, concerning the planet’s size just large enough to be covered by the shadow of a palm tree. Arab entities surrounded by sun and sand and the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland is surviving as a self-declared nation, located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, Somalia ...

Après une longue période de prix atones, le café a vu ses cours se raffermir au cours de l’année 2020 et du premier trimestre 2021, avant de flamber durant l’été et l’automne. Il renouait alors avec des plus hauts niveaux depuis 2011, date de la fin du dernier « super-cycle des matières premières (2002-2011). Tandis que la demande progresse structurellement, l’offre s’est repliée, pénalisée par une conjonction de facteurs climatiques, géopolitiques et, bien évidemment, sanitaires en ...

We provide evidence on the direct and indirect effects of trade and infrastructure on women’s participation in the labor force. We use panel data from 91 developing and emerging economies, and examine the impacts of openness to international trade and three indicators of infrastructure (access to electricity, mobile phone subscriptions and internet use) on female labor force participation. Fixed-effects and instrumental variable fixed-effects estimates suggest that both trade and ac ...

Pourquoi ce thème ? Pourquoi, alors que nous traversons une pandémie sans précédent, l'auteur a-t-il décidé de comprendre les liens entre la Chine, l'espace arabo-africain et les nouvelles routes de la soie ? À cause du Covid-19, le monde se trouve à un tournant historique et stratégique du processus de mondialisation. Selon ses observations (comme homme politique), cette pandémie est bien plus qu'une crise sanitaire, c'est une crise globale qui a des impacts sociaux, économiques, ...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gives Mauritius the golden opportunity to access Africa’s vast market of 1.3 billion people, with an estimated GDP of $3.4 trillion. This opportunity could not have come at a better time, as Mauritius suffered a heavy blow from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It also lost its preferential trade agreements on sugar and textiles in the 2000s, and has struggled with diminished export and productivity growth. To turn this opportunity into ...

South Africa’s economy is in crisis. Like much of the world, it has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic when its economy has already been weakened by years of low growth, high unemployment and rising inequality after the global financial crisis of 2007-08. At this difficult juncture, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers it the opportunity of becoming a continental growth pole, not just a regional growth pole which it is already. This opportunity could not have c ...

Annoncé le 16 septembre dernier, l’arrêt définitif de l’enquête annuelle sur le climat des affaires est une erreur. Véritable référence pour l’analyse économique et entrepreneuriale dans 190 pays, c’est un instrument perfectible, mais indispensable. Dans la foulée d’une enquête indépendante menée par le cabinet d’avocats WilmerHale, qui pointait les pressions inopportunes exercées par la Chine et par d’autres pays lors de la préparation de son rapport annuel Doing Business, la Banq ...

The first two decades of this millennium were marked by major political, economic and geopolitical disruptions. This has led many analysts to predict that the world economy is entering a phase of “deglobalization” – that is, a retreat from the globalization process. This policy brief discusses how “deglobalization” affects the role and relevance of international trade institutions and agreements. The basic message is that investing in the improvement of the rules-based multilateral ...

Face à la concurrence mondiale croissante, les Emirats arabes unis (EAU) ont pu constater le retard enregistré dans le domaine maritime dans les points stratégiques traditionnels au début du 21ème siècle. Pour autant, le pays détient une position importante sur la scène internationale en ce qui concerne le transport maritime. Grâce à la DP World, instrument diplomatique émirati, le lancement d’initiatives permettant au pays de regagner une place et une implantation dans différents p ...

Concerns are real, but the country fares as well as peers at similar levels of development China holds a paradox: Western policy-makers and many firms decry discriminatory business practices — concerns that have culminated in a trade war between the US and China — yet foreign direct investment (FDI) in China continues to thrive. In the first quarter of this year, FDI into China soared by 40% compared to the same period a year prior and, as reported by Unctad, the country overtook t ...

Le bilan des relations Europe/Méditerranée et Europe/Afrique invite aujourd’hui à un renouveau de ces partenariats. Un renouveau car il y a retrait partiel de l’Europe en ce qui concerne les questions de développement du voisinage Méditerranée-Afrique dans un temps où les partenariats actuels [de Barcelone et celui de Cotonou] s’emboitent dans la logique du commerce (libre-échange) et de l’aide financière. Le renouveau du partenariat Euro-méditerranée-Afrique devrait s’inscrire dans ...

We explore whether improved export sophistication increases women’s participation in wage employment. Using panel data from a large group of developing and emerging economies, and Fixed-effects and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators, we find that export sophistication has significant and mostly positive effects on women’s participation in paid employment in all regions, but these effects are nonlinear, since they become positive only after a threshold level of sophistica ...

L’Union européenne (UE) a annoncé le 14 juillet une proposition de taxe carbone à ses frontières, qui devrait renchérir les importations de produits fortement émetteurs (acier, aluminium, ciment, électricité et engrais). Cette même taxe est déjà appliquée au sein de l’UE, qui veut désormais l’imposer aux fabricants étrangers. En soi, le projet part d’une bonne intention. Il n’est pas motivé par le protectionnisme, mais par des préoccupations climatiques on ne peut plus justiíées. S ...

The BDA Currents: Where Diplomacy Meets Business, is the Brussels Diplomatic Academy’s annual report covering the wider geopolitical and other factors influencing and affecting the world of diplomacy, international relations and global business. The journal focuses on issues of topical interest around the centers of global power, influence and importance, including the continents of Europe and Africa, the Middle East, China, India & Asia, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independe ...

L'intégration régionale en Afrique est considérée comme une priorité par de nombreux responsables politiques et acteurs économiques du continent. Avec la signature de l'accord portant création de la ZLECAf par l'ensemble des pays africains, le défi consiste désormais à mettre en place un marché continental pour les biens et les services et à jeter les bases d'une union douanière continentale. Nombreux sont ceux qui, sur le continent, considèrent la ZLECAf comme un plan d'investissem ...

Regional integration in Africa is seen as a priority by many of the continent’s policymakers and economic stakeholders. With all Africa now signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the challenge now is to implement a continental market for goods and services and establish the foundations of a continental customs union. Many on the continent see the AfCFTA as an investment, economic-diversification, and job-creation blueprint that will shape the future of A ...

L’entrée en vigueur de l’accord instituant la Zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAF) s’inscrit dans la continuité des aspirations anciennes pour intégrer les marchés africains et faire de cette intégration un vecteur de prospérité et de développement. Il s’agit, en effet, d’une étape dont la traversée est inévitable en vue d’aboutir aux aspirations annoncées par l’Agenda 2063. C’est une étape qui concrétise, dans sa première phase, un engagement en faveur de la libre ...

According to this month’s OECD economic outlook, global GDP --- which took a huge hit from the pandemic and is still 3% below its level of a year ago – will not recover its pre-pandemic level until the end of 2021. In a downside scenario, the return could take almost a year longer. The OECD predictions, which imply high and protracted unemployment, are in line with the view of many other official and private organizations. The arrival of effective vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech wa ...

Le présent rapport a pour objet d’analyser les implications sur la croissance et le développement du Maroc de son insertion dans l’économie mondiale. Cette analyse est menée en comparant la dynamique économique observée après 1998 à celle qui l’a été avant. En effet, la période 1998-2018 est celle au cours de laquelle se sont manifestés les effets du choix acté et assumé politiquement de l’ouverture (ou du libre-échange, si on préfère). Pour avant, nous nous en tenons à la période 1 ...

Dès les premiers cas du Coronavirus relevés en Afrique, les prédictions les plus sombres ont été faites sur la catastrophe sanitaire à venir sur le continent, en raison d’un certain nombre de caractéristiques supposées favoriser la propagation de l’épidémie. Ces prévisions ont été démenties par la rapidité des ripostes des Etats et par divers autres facteurs. La progression de la Covid-19 en Afrique n’est pas le fait d’une dynamique unique mais plutôt de multiples profils de risques ...

After reaching a peak against other currencies in March this year, the dollar fell by almost 15% until the beginning of December. According to Bloomberg, asset portfolio managers have been assuming "short" positions against the dollar, that is, betting on its fall ahead. The dollar is expected to devalue against the euro, the yen, and the Chinese RMB in 2021. The peak last March, during the coronavirus financial shock, reflected the search for a safe haven in short-term US bonds or ...

We estimate the contents of services value-added incorporated in goods exports in different countries in Latin America, exploring the local dimension of the results. We use inter-regional input–output analysis to trace and map domestic value-added embedded in those countries' exports. We add to the discussion of global value chains the internal, within-country geography of trade in value-added, since the set of locational preferences that help understanding the spatial patterns of n ...

This article has originally been published on OECD Development matter platform Many donor countries seem eager to see middle-income countries (MICs) “master out” and graduate to a non-client status in multilateral development institutions before fully achieving their development potential. We argue that such institutions can still significantly contribute to the sustainable development of MICs, while also seizing many benefits from this relationship (Middle income countries and mul ...

The pandemic is accelerating history, in the sense that it is leading to the speeding up of some recent trends. In the case of globalization, the pandemic will not reverse it, but it will reshape it. Here we take a bird’s eye view of global trade during the pandemic, relate it to previous trends, and guess how global value chain managers and government trade policymakers are likely to react. A Bird’s Eye View of Global Trade during the Pandemic World trade took a deep dive during ...

Les relations politiques entre la Chine et l’Australie se sont fortement dégradées avec, à la clé, la mise en œuvre de la part du géant asiatique de barrières tarifaires et non tarifaires. Si les produits agricoles (orge, bœuf, vin, homards) ont été les premières matières premières à être touchées, les exportations australiennes de gaz naturel liquéfié pourraient également être dans le viseur de Pékin. Canberra dispose, néanmoins, d’une carte maîtresse : son minerai de fer dont le s ...

Food security for all requires (i) sustained productivity growth and competitiveness, not only of agriculture but of the entire economy; (ii) a social safety net; and (iii) resilience in the face of periodic shocks. This is the central message of this review. Two popular concepts in food security for all are food self-sufficiency (FSS) and food sovereignty (FSY). While countries have pursued different policies to achieve FSS, the common element in their approaches is the misguided ...

Coup sur coup, deux accords géants sont venus marquer l’actualité internationale. L’un, est économique et sonne comme un coup de tonnerre : c’est le RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), vaste accord commercial asiatique, signé le 15 novembre 2020. Cette date restera dans l’histoire comme ayant associé la Chine à un ensemble de pays asiatiques. Il inclut l’ASEAN (Association des Nations d’Asie du Sud-est, à l’initiative de la démarche) mais, aussi, le Japon et la Corée ...

En 2016, l’une des grandes promesses de campagne du candidat républicain Donald Trump était de mettre fin aux pratiques commerciales chinoises, jugées déloyales et responsables du déficit commercial américain. L’imposition d’importants droits de douane allait forcer le gouvernement chinois à négocier. Les pratiques dénoncées par Trump – sous-évaluation du yuan, transferts forcés de technologie, violations de la propriété intellectuelle, manque d’ouverture aux importations – s’inscr ...

We estimate the contents of services value-added incorporated in goods exports in different countries in Latin America, exploring the local dimension of the results. We use inter-regional input-output analysis to trace and map domestic value-added embedded in those countries’ exports. We add to the discussion of global value chains the internal, withincountry geography of trade in value-added, since the set of locational preferences that help understanding the spatial patterns of na ...

Avant l'ère coloniale, l'émission d'argent en Afrique de l'Ouest dépendait de la traite des esclaves. Avec l'avènement du régime colonial, les pièces d'argent ont été importées puis progressivement imposées comme outil de coercition. La trajectoire postcoloniale a été différente pour les anciennes colonies britanniques et françaises. Alors que les premières ont retrouvé leur souveraineté monétaire, les secondes ont conservé une union monétaire sous l’égide de la France. La propositi ...

Diversification is important because it is associated with economic growth and reduced volatility. Diversification of exports, which provide foreign exchange and enable imports of critical goods, services, and know-how, is crucial for developing countries. The question we address in this brief is how export diversification is affected by trade policies, including multilateral rules, regional trade agreements, and national measures. The record on diversification is poor across a larg ...

The “middle income trap” may well characterize the experience of Brazil and most of Latin America since the 1980s. Conversely, South Korea maintained its pace of evolution, reaching a high-income status. Such divergence of economic growth can be related to their distinctive performances of domestic accumulation of technological and organizational capabilities. Their different approaches to global value chains and trade globalization reinforced such discrepancy in domestic accumulati ...

The year 2020 is one of the most difficult years for the global automotive industry. The pandemic first appeared in a region of China known for its developed automotive sector. Initially, it was the South Asian manufacturers who first felt the impact of the shutdown in China before the pandemic shifted to Europe and the United States and before the disruption of value chains took on a global dimension. In Morocco, the sector has not remained immune to this turbulent context and its ...

We explore the effects of exporting manufactures, primary commodities, and food and agricultural products, and we examine the impact of importing capital and semi-capital goods, on structural transformation in a group of 21 sub-Saharan African countries that were covered by the inaugural African Transformation Report (ACET, 2014). The empirical results suggest that the import of capital and semi-capital goods can be a good predictor of structural transformation, while concentration ...

Unless trade wars end around the globe, the world is headed for the biggest recession in living memory. The crisis arising from the coronavirus will hit fragile economies in Africa, the Pacific, and the Caribbean the hardest. At such a time, the world should be dropping barriers but, instead, new barriers are being built. In the past month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened retaliation against India unless it released supplies of hydroxychloroquine. Worse still, he got his way ...

The United States has suffered more COVID-19 casualties than any other country and continues to report large numbers of new cases and deaths, and – as evident recently in stock markets – investors remain extremely sensitive to the epidemic’s shifting trends. As every state reopens, including most recently the New York epicenter, the fates of the American economy and of the global economy depend on whether the United States has put the worst of the epidemic behind it, or whether it w ...

COVID-19 has delivered a powerful double punch to the chin of the global economy, combining a terrifying pandemic with a collapse in production because of the withdrawal into their homes of half the world’s workers. The uncertainty generated by the medical and economic shock is paralyzing consumers and investors, and the dispersion of short-term economic forecasts is far wider than at any time in modern history, about six times greater than during the Great Financial Crisis. The GD ...

Confronted with surging unemployment and miles long lines at food banks across the United States, most states have begun reopening the economy. Many of these states are seeing rising numbers of new cases and face a real risk of relapsing into an uncontrolled pandemic. To avoid this outcome, they must adopt a strategy that entails testing, tracing, and isolation of the infected, with priority given to groups and places where the medical impact – reducing infections and saving lives – ...

La Communauté économique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) est souvent présentée comme étant le système d’intégration régionale le plus dynamique du continent africain. Les Conférences des chefs d’Etat et de Gouvernement y sont régulières, les citoyens de la Communauté disposent d’un passeport commun et les discussions sur une monnaie unique sont à l’ordre du jour. Néanmoins, le modèle de la CEDEAO souffre de deux paradoxes majeurs. Les paradoxes africains Le premier pa ...

This paper aims at evaluating the virtual water content in trade in an intra-country perspective and discussing potential tradeoffs between the use of natural resources and value added creation. We develop a trade-based index that reveals the relative water use intensities associated with specific interregional and international trade flows. The index is calculated considering the measures of water and value added embedded in trade flows associated with each regional origin-destinat ...

Le processus de mondialisation, si solide soit-il, se trouve à l’épreuve d’une crise sanitaire mondiale inattendue et brutale. Cette réalité adresse au monde une question qui interpelle autant les décideurs, les managers que les chercheurs : Que pourraient être les effets du Covid-19 sur l’économie politique internationale ? Rupture, continuité ou inflexion ? Une des perspectives qu’il convient de surveiller est celle relative à l’inflexion du processus de la mondialisation. C'est- ...

Depuis l'entrée en vigueur de l'Accord de libre-échange (ALE) entre le Maroc et l'Union européenne (UE), il y a près de deux décennies, les performances des exportations marocaines vers les marchés de l'UE ont été plutôt décevantes, tandis que le déficit commercial du Maroc avec l'UE a augmenté de manière significative. Cela a conduit de nombreux observateurs à percevoir l'accord d'un oeil critique. Cependant, les balances commerciales bilatérales ne sont pas toujours suffisantes po ...

The Mara Group, producer of the Mara smartphone, has set up manufacturing facilities in two key strategic countries, Rwanda and South Africa, with a total estimated investment of $100 million. On the back of political shifts in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa embarked on an investment drive, announced in his state of the nation address in 2018. This was followed up with an investment conference, at which Ashish Thakkar, CEO of Mara Group, announced a $100 million investment ...

The Service sector is central to economic growth, trade and employment across the world. Trade in services has increased from 8.5 per cent of global GDP in 1995 to 13.1 per cent of GDP in 2017. However, Africa is taking less advantage of these opportunities than others. In this policy brief we highlight important misconceptions that may be holding back services exports in Africa. The potential for services sector growth and services exports from low levels in Africa is large. Polici ...

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) defines regional integration as a “multidimensional process which may take the form of coordination, cooperation, convergence and deep integration initiatives and whose scope extends not only to economic and trade issues, but to political, social, cultural and environmental ones as well.” As an organizing principle, the concept of regional integration has been around for some time in various config ...

For a second, the uniformed officer looked threatening. He followed me. When I reached the stairs leading to my Transavia flight to Paris, he stepped in front of me, asking, “Sir, may I talk to you for a second?” Did he suspect I was smuggling precious Islamic art or some cannabis, the popular Kif? “When are you returning to Marrakech,” the customs officer inquired. “In four days”, I replied. “Perfect,” was his reaction. “May I ask you to buy in a French pharmacy the drugs mentioned ...

The Moroccan diaspora contributes in major ways to Morocco’s economic development. Moroccan migrants ease the country’s chronic unemployment and underemployment problems, send remittances, invest in the home country, and typically visit Morocco frequently as tourists. In addition to that migrants usually retain close links with Morocco, and help in less direct ways to forge trade and third-party investment links between Morocco and their host countries. Drawing on the relatively sma ...

Le 3 octobre 2016, la Turquie a déposé une plainte contre le Maroc devant l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC) au sujet des mesures antidumping appliquées par le Maroc contre les exportations turques en Acier laminé à chaud.1 Suite à l’échec des consultations entre les deux pays, la Turquie a demandé, le 12 janvier 2017, l’établissement d’un groupe spécial pour examiner la conformité des mesures prises par le Maroc avec le droit de l’OMC. Demande qui marque le passage du litige ...

The main goal of this paper is to address an important question that arises from the interaction between increased participation in international trade, labor markets, and gender inequality; namely, the impact of trade liberalization on women’s access to wage employment in the non-agricultural sector. We empirically address this question by performing fixedeffects and GMM estimations on panel data from a large group of developing economies, and tracing the impact of trade on women’s ...

Once the traditional Western year-end celebrations are concluded, understanding some of the changes that will take place in this new decade of the 21st century become essential. The expression 20/20 is used in ophthalmology to reflect acuity in vision. Perhaps no time in recent history has required more acuity in long term vision and perspective regarding the significant changes to occur in the 21st century. There is no doubt: the 21st century will be the Asian century. The 2020 de ...

The hike in tariffs imposed by the United States against its major trading partners since early 2018 has been unprecedented in recent history. President Trump alluded to, among others, the goal of revitalizing jobs in the country’s manufacturing industry by protecting it from unfair trade practices of other countries, particularly China. However, according to a study by two Federal Reserve Bank staff – Aaron Flaaen and Justin Pierce – released last December 23, the effect so far has ...

Lors du colloque autour du thème « Croissance économique au Maroc : théories, évidences et leçons des expériences récentes », organisé conjointement par le Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP) et le Policy Center for the New South et accueilli par le HCP en mai 2017 dans ses locaux à Rabat, des experts et praticiens de près de 30 institutions académiques et non académiques ont échangé et débattu de la croissance économique au Maroc dans un framework transverse alliant le théorique au pra ...

The Atlantic Current’s 6th edition provides overview, fresh insights, latest data, and broader analysis on the Atlantic space’s current challenges, as well as their implications for the South. Different chapters explore emerging trends and critical issues, such as the World Trade Organization reform, Brexit and the future of EU, the expansion of militancy in the Sahel and Coastal Africa, the role of cultural diplomacy and the deepening of Sino-African relations within a shifting an ...

China and the European Union have an extensive and growing economic relationship. The relationship is problematic because of the distortions caused by China’s state capitalist system and the diversity of interests within the EU’s incomplete federation. More can be done to capture the untapped trade and investment opportunities that exist between the parties. China’s size and dynamism, and its recent shift from an export-led to a domesticdemand- led growth model, mean that these oppo ...

The growth slowdown became evident in late 2017. World GDP at market exchange rates slowed from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of between 4 and 5% in the second half of 2017 to between 1.5% to 2% in the first half of 2019. The slowdown came as a big surprise and led to continuous revisions downwards of growth forecasts as shown yet again by the IMF’s World Economic Outlook issued last week. Nearly all observers and experts had expected the expansion of 2016/2017 to continue. Tha ...

The Trump government has been imposing restrictions on access to technologies by Chinese telecommunications firms. Why and what are the consequences? The Federal Communications Commission is about to ban carriers from using government funds to buy equipment from Huawei and ZTE. Other government agencies are expected to take similar measures. This is just the latest episode of a gradual squeeze that the Trump government has been giving over China's telecommunications giant Huawei, ...

In this brief, we review the evidence on Morocco’s export concentration, discuss its causes, and then draw some policy implications. The main message is that Morocco needs to raise its game in some less familiar markets and move outside its comfort zone. This implies not only investments by private firms, greater efforts on export promotion by the government and professional associations, but also deeper changes within Morocco, including in its educational system. Over the past two ...

Africa, as a continent of economic opportunities, is attracting foreign players. In this context, India is emerging as an important partner, especially for Eastern and Southern Africa. The complexity of its geopolitical environment combined with internal specificities motivated the revival of interest for the continent. This paper draws on historical developments between India and African countries to provide the state of play of recent linkages. Those trends are better perceived th ...

The objective of this paper is to better understand the evolution of manufacturing employment across the world. Manufacturing value added has grown rapidly since 2000, at least matching world GDP growth, even after the global financial crisis, reflecting mainly rising demand for manufactures especially in developing countries. However, manufacturing employment increased at only a slow pace, both before and after the global financial crisis. Manufacturing employment growth provided o ...

يعرف المغرب فوارق كبيرة على مستوى الدخل، ففي سنة 2013 بلغت حصة الـ%10 آٔلغىن من الساكنة ما يقارب %32 من الدخل الوطين، 1أي ما يعادل 12 ضعفا لحصة الـ%10 آٔلفقر. إن أي اتساع مفرط في الفوارق من شأنه أن يؤثر سلبا على وتيرة النمو على المدى الطويل، ألنه عادة ما يقترن بضعف في استغالل الموارد البشرية. ومن هذا المنطلق تدفع هذه المقالة بطرح مفاده أنه، باستلهام التجارب الدولية، يمكن للحكومة المغربية أن تفعل اليشء الكثير للحد من الفوارق دون التفريط في تعزيز التنمية، بل وربما يمكنها أن ...

Africa is an economic region which holds great potential despite the risks associated with its development. Indeed, many experts agree that Africa is emerging as the new frontier for global growth. Boosted by its abundant natural resources, a young and vibrant population, strong urbanization, more stable macroeconomic conditions, more stringent economic policies, a constantly improving business climate and improving governance, Africa is on track for a structural transformation that ...

Despite some short-term benefits, trade deviation to the region shouldn’t be expected to last. Has the U.S. trade war with China been good for Latin America? An increase in Chinese demand for primary products from the region, as well as recent news of production transfers from China to Mexico, might give the impression that it has. But any positive short-term effects of the confrontation should also take into account its negative medium- and long-term impacts on the region and on gl ...

Thirty months into President Trump's radical trade policy, it is time to take stock. American firms tend to give the President the benefit of the doubt - that the aim is not protection (which most don't want) but opening up markets overseas, striking better trade deals, and reducing the nation's big trade deficit. So far, however, none of this has happened. Instead, there is virulent uncertainty, barriers against American firms are going up, Europe, Japan and China have struck impor ...

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 ...