Middle Income Countries Trap: The Case of North Africa (Online)
Presentation and objectives:
The middle-income trap (MIT) refers to countries that, after reaching a moderate level of development, experience a growth slowdown that prevents them from advancing further. Traditional explanations, based on neoclassical, structural, and endogenous growth theories, emphasize the need for capital accumulation, structural transformation, technological upgrading, integration into global value chains, human capital improvement, and innovation. However, this framework is increasingly outdated, as current middle-income countries (MICs) face new challenges shaped by technological disruption, geopolitical and economic fragmentation, population aging, and especially climate change. These factors create a far more uncertain global environment, requiring new approaches to sustain development and escape the trap.
In this context, the webinar aims to:
• Contribute to a better understanding of the MIT challenges in North Africa in the face of new and deep global challenges,
• Define a new analytical framework that integrates the impacts of the global challenges on the growth options and trajectories of MICs in North Africa,
• Apply the framework to North African countries.
Date & Time: Thursday 20 November, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (UTC+1)
Format: Online (Zoom)
Interpretation: Arabic, French and English
This webinar will be live streamed on: 
Will be available after the Webinar
Speakers
Adam B. Elhiraika (PhD), is the Director of UNECA’s Subregional Office for North Africa. He previously served as Director of Macroeconomics and Governance Division and Macroeconomic Policy Division of ECA, and Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sudan (2020-2022) on leave from the UN. Before joining ECA in 2004, he was a Research Economist at the Islamic Development Bank and Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at several universities. He published extensively in internationally refereed journals, books and reports.
Adel Ben Youssef (PhD), is Associate Professor of Economics at Université Côte d’Azur and member of CNRS-GREDEG. His research focuses on digital and ecological transitions, notably the “twin transition” linking innovation and sustainability. He has published over 100 papers, led 40 international projects, and advised UN agencies. A COP climate negotiator for Tunisia (COP23–29), he serves on advisory boards for INCIT, MENAPAR, and AISMA. Ranked among the top 1% of economists worldwide, he received the Auguste Piccard Award for research on digitalization and sustainability.
Nabil Jedlane (PhD), is Professor of Economics and International Finance and Director of the LAMSID Research Laboratory at the National School of Business and Management in Tangier (Abdelmalek Essaâdi University). He serves as consultant and expert for the UN-ECA, UN-ESCWA, OECD, and African Union. President of the Scientific Council and Vice-President of the African Finance Network, he has published extensively on African economic, financial, and monetary integration and national and regional development policies.
Saïd Souam (PhD), is a professor of economics at Paris Nanterre University and deputy director of EconomiX since January 2020. He is a fellow of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council and has taught in France, Algeria, and Greece. His research covers industrial economics, competition policy, and law and economics. He has published in International Journal of Industrial Organization, International Review of Law and Economics, and World Economics, co-organises the Economies of the Muslim World and EconomIA seminars, and authored reports on ICT regulation and competition policy.
Zoubir Benhamouche (PhD), is an Economist at UNECA North Africa Office, has a diverse background, including many years of experience in financial markets with PwC and Hiram Finance in France, and economist at the forecasting directorate of the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. He also taught economics in several universities in France. His work at UNECA focuses on productivity, governance, structural transformation, and climate change. He holds advanced degrees in Economics and Statistics, an Executive MBA, and a PhD focusing on inequality, institutions, and development.
