North Africa

The transition to a green economy in North Africa: What Prospects for Private Companies?

Rabat, 18 July 2014 (ECA) - Private companies must play a leading role to support public institutions in their efforts to break the "business as usual" model. They will have to move gradually towards cleaner, energy and resource-saving, as well as eco-innovation based production methods, which constitute the only way to transform environmental constraints into opportunities for economic and social performance.

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Increased ECA initiatives to better coordinate UN agencies support to The Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)

Rabat, 17 July 2014 (ECA) - Today more than ever, the Maghreb needs to accelerate its integration process. This is an imperative all the more urgent that the region has been facing significant challenges since the 2011 events that heralded the beginning of a decisive turning point, thus reiterating the claims of the peoples for equal distribution of growth dividends, greater democracy and respect for civil liberties, increased job opportunities and social development that is more inclusive and more responsive to the needs of all social categories.

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The United Nations and its partners are mobilizing to support UMA

Rabat, 24-25 June 2014 (ECA) - How to understand the efficiency of the support the United Nations System (UNS) is providing to the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) to help it attain its objectives and achieve regional integration? What strategy is needed to ensure the sustainability of this support, strengthen its impact and maximize the relevance and scope of interventions?

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Diversification and sophistication as a lever for the structural transformation of North African economies

The transition of the countries of North-Africa to the category of emerging countries will certainly take place through a major transformation of their economies; and this raises the issue of the processes to guide these structural changes. Moreover, insufficient growth results in these counties to face the challenges in the region and the subsequent relatively slow economic and social development, were in part attributed to the lack of diversification of these economies. North African countries are in general specialized in sluggish and low added value sectors or products.

Regional Cooperation Policy for the development of Renewable Energy in North Africa

The North African countries have not yet taken full advantage of the cooperation opportunities in the region, nor in terms of market development (intra-regional trade represents less than 4% of their total trade) nor in terms of promoting new economic
opportunities contributing to sustainable growth and job creation. The economic cost of this lack of integration has been estimated at about 2-3 percent of GDP.

The Economic Situation in Egypt in the Context of Political instability and a Risky Transition

Despite the political uncertainty, Egypt’s economy maintained a growth of 1.8 points in 2012 as compared to 1.7 points in 2011. Activities increased in most of the sectors, though exports shrunk by 0.5 points. Domestic demand was the driving engine of growth as it contributed 5.1 points. Final consumption contributed 3.9% points out of which household consumption alone represents 3.6 points. Gross fixed investment (GFI) added 0.1 point, while GCF contributed 1.2 points.

The Renewable Energy Sector in North Africa

Access to energy is a strategic priority in all regions of the world. Even today, nearly 1.6 billion people do not have access to modern energy and three billion people depend on “traditional biomass” and coal as their main source of fuel. Lack of access to clean, affordable and reliable energy (the energy sector is responsible for two thirds of greenhouse gas emissions), is a brake on human and economic development; it is a major obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

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