Saudi Aramco’s IPO was introduced as a central element of Vision 2030, the ambitious economic diversification strategy unveiled by Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in January 2016, when oil prices reached a historic low of $29 per barrel. The prospects suddenly darkened for Saudi Arabia and it was necessary to respond quickly. The crown prince’s […]
Category: Macro Analysis
Over the past few years, the African continent has relaunched its efforts of integration, through the reform of the African Union and the launch of the AfCFTA. By 2050 the population of Africa will have doubled. By relying on its increasingly well-educated youth, it could release its extraordinary economic potential. This transformation represents an historic opportunity for binding the African and European continents to each other, something that Robert Schuman wished for several decades ago. To achieve this, it is fundamental to articulate the North-South and South-South cooperation logics in order to encourage the emergence of an economic ecosystem that is both integrated and modular. Morocco’s experience is edifying in this respect. The new European executive, after the May 2019 elections, should make integration with Africa a strategic priority. This is not only a stake for the future. It is an existential imperative for Europe, at a time when security and migration threats are intensifying. It is particularly true if Europe want to continue to have an impact in the world, when faced with giants such as China and the United States.
North and South must develop a bold common policy that relies more on the dynamism of the private sector and civil societies, plead Karim Amellal and Alexander Kateb
Vision 2030 intends to transform the Saudi economy – the largest Arab and second largest middle eastern economy after Turkey – and to reduce its dependence on oil. Since its launch in Spring 2016, it managed to attract a great deal of attention. It aimed to tackle many of the problems that impede the economy […]
Public statements made by the leaders of Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, and other EU countries, to protest against Donald Trump’s decision imposing tariffs on aluminium and steel imported to the United States from these countries were predictable. As are the retaliatory measures envisaged by these countries. But this has not prevented the Trump […]
Habemus Governum. It took months to reach an agreement between the competing “anti-system” parties that have emerged from the last Italian general elections, the M5S and the Lega, and to get the approval stamp of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on the proposed Cabinet members, which was effectively achieved after a reshuffle of the […]
Keynote speech pronounced at the AJ NEWS Asia Pacific Financial Forum in Seoul, Republic of Korea, March 2018. The recent plan announced by US President Donald Trump, to increase tariffs on a broad range of Chinese products exported to the United States, for up to USD 60 billion, and the counterveiling measures announced by Beijing, […]
The picture is reassuring. The Ministers of Finance of the twenty largest economies in the world, together with the Managing Director of the IMF, display a perfunctory smile. But despite this reassuring impression, the G20 Finance Ministers meeting that was held in Baden Baden, in Germany, marks the end of an era. It signals a […]
It is one of the most interesting paradoxes of our world. The European Union has a population of almost half a billion inhabitants, spanned across more than two dozens of distinct political constituencies, and it boasts the largest economy and consumption market in the world. Yet it is entirely devoid of any true state-like sovereignty. […]
I was interviewed by France 24 Business Bulletin about the BRICS summit in Durban and about what the BRICS countries were trying to achieve