Events

Rania Al-Mashat

Advisor, International Monetary Fund

PhD and MA in Economics, University of Maryland. Former: Senior Economist, IMF; Deputy Project Director, Institutional Reform and Informal Sector Center, University of Maryland. With the Central Bank of Egypt: worked on developing and modernizing monetary policy strategy; participates in the country's macroeconomic management; CBE liaison with the IMF and sovereign rating agencies; represented the country's monetary authority in conferences and forums, including at the Egyptian Parliament. Helped design and present the Government of Egypt's Economic Program after the 2011 revolution. Former Adjunct Professor of Economics, AUC. Former Member of the Board, Arab Investment Bank. Member of the Board: Egyptian Stock Exchange; General Authority for Free Zones and Investment; Arab International Bank; Middle East Economic Association; Dean's Strategic Advisory Board, School of Business, American University in Cairo (AUC). Research Fellow, Economic Research Forum for Arab countries, Iran and Turkey; Lecturer, Egyptian Banking Institute. Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum. Recipient of awards, including: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow in Africa, Institut Choiseul (2014); International Visitor Leadership Program, Government of France (2013); Distinguished Alumni Award, School of Business, AUC (2013). Named among the most powerful women in the Egyptian Banking Sector (2014).

Abdelhak Bassou

Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center

Abdelhak Bassou occupied several offices within the Directorate General of the Moroccan National Security where he was Borders’ Division Chief from 1978 to 1993. He was the former Director of the Royal Institute of Police in 1998. He also served as the Chief of Regional Security (Errachidia 1999-2003, Sidi Kacem 2003-2005) and was also Head of the Central General Intelligence from 2006 to 2009. He also contributed to the output of several international organizations endeavors including the Council of Arab Interior Ministers from 1986 to 1992, where he represented the Directorate General of National Security in several meetings. Abdelhak Bassou holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences of Agdal in Rabat.

Claudia Brandus

Head of Regulatory Affairs, East Europe and Egypt - Enel Green Energy

Claudia Brandus is Regulatory Affairs Director of Enel for East Europe and Egypt in charge of defining, representing, and promoting the company’s position on regulatory and antitrust issues. Claudia Brandus joined Enel back in 2007 as the lawyer dedicated to new projects in Romania, becoming the legal director of Enel Green Power Romania when Enel Green Power was set up as a company dedicated to the development and operation of renewable energy assets within Enel Group. Later on, in 2012, she was appointed to lead the regulatory affairs activities in Europe and New Countries for Enel Green Power, gaining a broad experience on energy markets all over the world. Brandus graduated Law School at the University of Bucharest, continuing her education with international courses such as “Leadership for Energy Management Program” from Bocconi – Milan IESE Business School in Barcelona, European Union Law at King’s College London, Green Academy: Green Power Mini MBA in London.

Jean-François Dauphin

IMF Mission Chief to Algeria

Jean-François Dauphin heads the Maghreb division in the Middle East and Central Asia department of the IMF and is the mission chief for Algeria. He was previously the mission chief for Morocco. Mr. Dauphin has worked at the IMF for 16 years and participated in operations in many countries in Africa, Central America and Eastern Europe. He also contributed to developing IMF policies in its Strategy, Policy and Review department. He is a graduate from the French École Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique in Paris and from the London School of Economics. Prior to joining the IMF, he worked in the private financial sector, the French Central Bank, and taught economics in France and Africa.

Maria Demertzis

Deputy Director, Bruegel

Maria Demertzis is Deputy Director at Bruegel and a visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam. She has previously worked at the European Commission and the research department of the Dutch Central Bank. She has also held academic positions at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the USA and the University of Strathclyde in the UK, from where she holds a PhD in economics. She has published extensively in international academic journals and contributed regular policy inputs to both the European Commission's and the Dutch Central Bank's policy outlets.

Karim El Aynaoui

Managing Director, OCP Policy Center

Karim El Aynaoui is currently Managing Director of OCP Policy Center, a think tank based in Rabat. He also serves as advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP Group, a global leader in the phosphate sector. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at Bank Al-Maghrib, the Central Bank of Morocco. He was the Director of Economics and International Relations, where he provided strategic leadership in defining and supporting monetary policy analysis and strategy. He was also in charge of the Statistical and International Relations Divisions of the Central Bank, led the research division and was a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Before joining Bank Al-Maghrib, Karim El Aynaoui worked for eight years at the World Bank, both in its Middle Eastern and North Africa, and Africa regions as an economist. He has published papers, books and articles in scientific journals on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. Karim El Aynaoui is a board member of the OCP Foundation, member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), member of the COP22 Scientific Committee and the Malabo Montpellier Panel, a group of leading African and European experts from the fields of agriculture, ecology, nutrition, public policy and global development. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux, where he taught for three years courses in statistics and economics.

Larabi Jaïdi

Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center

Larabi Jaïdi is a former Professor at the Mohamed V University in Rabat- Agdal. His area of expertise includes Economic Policy, International Economic Relations ( Europe  and the Arab World) and Economy of the Regions. He is a founding member of the Centre Marocain de Conjoncture and of the Groupement d’Etudes et de Recherches sur la Méditerrannée. He is a member of the Research Group within  the Euro-Mediterranian Universities Networks. He has also acted as Adviser to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Economy and Finance. He acts as independent expert  to the Moroccan Competition Council and the Moroccan Authority for the fight against Corruption. He is a member of the Adderrahim Bouabid Foundation Board (Body of Research- Action on matters relating to State Reform). Mr. Jaïdi also acts as consultant to Moroccan and foreign entities. He is the author of various publications relating to economic and social development and to international economic relations.

Iverna McGowan-Smyth

Head of Amnesty International European Institutions Office

Iverna is the Head of Amnesty International European Institutions Office and Advocacy Director, covering work towards the EU and the Council of Europe. After leaving a managerial position in the private sector to pursue a career in human rights, Iverna has worked at the UN and at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but also as a consultant on international women’s human rights law and on research ethics. She holds an LL.M in European and International Human Rights Law from the University of Maastricht, and a B.A. in European Studies from Trinity College, Dublin. She speaks French, German, Irish, and Spanish.

Marion Jansen

Chief Economist, International Trade Center

Marion Jansen is the Chief Economist of ITC and in this position responsible for the ITC’s flagship publication “SME Competitiveness Outlook” and representing ITC at the B20 and G20 level. She previously held senior positions in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Labor Office (ILO). She worked in the private sector before joining the WTO. Her publications in the field of international trade and global governance cover the areas of standards and regulations in international trade, the employment effects of globalization, economic effects of migration and the use of economics in international trade and investment law. Marion holds a PhD in economics from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain) and has lectured in different academic institutions on international economics, managerial economics and on the socio-economic impacts of globalization. 

Giacomo Luciani

Professor, Sciences Po

Giacomo Luciani teaches at Sciences Po in Paris, where he leads the Master in International Energy at the Paris School of International Affairs; and at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. In 2010-13 he has been a Princeton Global Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Near Eastern Studies. Previously he worked for 10 years at ENI and continues to consult for major corporate and government clients. He has served as independent expert witness in important arbitration cases. He has been a member of the European Commission’s Advisory Group on the Energy Roadmap 2050, and participated in numerous energy-related research projects funded by the Commission.

Yassine Msadfa

Research Assistant, OCP Policy Center

Researcher at the OCP Policy Center, Yassine Msadfa graduated from Hassan II University with a master degree in Applied Econometrics. Before joining the Moroccan think tank, his research focused on the analysis of the short and long-term dynamics of real estate market in Morocco with an error correction model. Currently his research interest ranges from Commodities market to Trade and industrialization in African countries.   

Mustapha K. Nabli

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia

Mustapha K. Nabli was Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia from January 2011 until July 2012. He was at the World Bank from 1997 to 2010, where he was Chief Economist and Director of the Social and Economic Development Department for the MENA region (1999-2008). From 1990 to 1995 he was Minister of Planning and Regional Development in Tunisia. He held various academic positions before that. He holds a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles (1974).

Francis Perrin

Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center

Following studies in economics and political science at the University Pierre Mendès France (UPMF – today University Grenoble Alpes) at Grenoble (France), Francis Perrin worked for several years as a journalist and freelance consultant on energy and mining resources before joining in 1991 the Paris-based Arab Petroleum Research Center (APRC). He was editor in chief of Arab Oil & Gas (AOG) and Pétrole et Gaz Arabes (PGA) between 1991 and 2000 and editorial manager of the publications of the APRC from 2001 to the end of 2011.Francis Perrin set up at the beginning of 2012 Stratégies et Politiques Energétiques (SPE). He is the Chairman of SPE. He is also the Chairman of Energy Industries Strategies Information (EISI). Francis Perrin is also giving lectures at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs - IRIS, course on energy security) and at the Lyon 3 Jean Moulin University. He is a Senior Research Fellow at IRIS. He is also a senior adviser to SPTEC Advisory and an associate editor to the Paris-based energy weekly Petrostrategies. He is the author of the chapters on crude oil and refined products in "Cyclope - World Commodity Yearbook", an annual report on commodities published in Paris by the editions Economica. He has presented communications at many professional conferences and seminars on energy issues and gives frequently interviews to various French and international media on these topics.

Simone Tagliapietra

Research Fellow, Bruegel

Simone Tagliapietra, an Italian citizen, joined Bruegel in April 2015. He is also Senior Researcher at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.

He is an expert in international energy and climate issues, with a record of numerous publications covering the European energy markets, the EU energy and climate policy and the Euro-Mediterranean energy relations, with a particular focus on Turkey. Among other things, he published the volumes "The Globalization of Natural Gas Markets. New Challenges and Opportunities for Europe" and “The Geoeconomics of Sovereign Wealth Funds and Renewable Energy”.

Before joining Bruegel he spent a year in Istanbul as Visiting Researcher at the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University. Previously, he also completed a traineeship at the Sustainable Energy Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva.

He is a Member of the Editorial Board of the European Energy Journal (EEJ), a Senior Expert Member of the Euro-Med Economists Association (EMEA) and a Member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).

Born in 1988, he holds a Master's Degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where he is currently concluding his PhD at the Department of International Economics, Institutions and Development with a thesis on the Euro-Mediterranean energy relations.

Valeria Talbot

Senior Researcher and head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme, ISPI

Valeria Talbot is Senior Researcher and head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme. She is member of the steering committee and ISPI scientific coordinator of Arab Trans, a FP7 funded consortium on political and social transformations in the Arab world. She is Lecturer of Middle East History at IULM University in Milan. She is scientific coordinator of the “Med and Gulf Executive Briefing” Project. She has contributed to a variety of research projects and published a number of papers, articles and book contributions. from 2007 to 2012 she was Associate Editor of the ISPI review Quaderni di Relazioni Internazionali. Before joining ISPI she worked at the University of Catania and at the European Parliament in Brussels. She holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Catania and a M.Phil. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. She has contributed to a variety of research projects and published a number of papers, articles and book contributions.

Iulia Siedschlag

Associate Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Dr Iulia Siedschlag is Associate Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin.  She leads the ESRI’s research on Internationalisation and Competitiveness. Iulia has published widely in peer reviewed international journals and books, especially on international trade, foreign direct investment, innovation, productivity and economic growth in Ireland and European Union countries. She has been awarded a significant number of research grants from international and national organisations and has successfully led a large number of international research consortia involving research institutes and universities from Europe. Iulia has been appointed to numerous Expert Groups and provided policy advice to national and international organisations including the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank Institute, the International Labour Organization, and the World Economic Forum. 

Guntram B. Wolff

Director, Bruegel

Guntram Wolff has been the Director of Bruegel since June 2013. His research focuses on the European economy and governance, on fiscal and monetary policy and global finance. He regularly testifies at the European Finance Ministers' ECOFIN meeting, the European Parliament, the German Parliament (Bundestag) and the French Parliament (Assemblée Nationale) and is a member of the French prime minister'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 Deutsche Bundesbank. He also worked as an adviser to the International Monetary Fund. He holds a PhD from the University of Bonn, studied economics in Bonn, Toulouse, Pittsburgh and Passau and previously taught economics at the University of Pittsburgh and at Université libre de Bruxelles. He has published numerous papers in leading academic journals. Guntram is fluent in German, English, French and has good notions of Bulgarian and Spanish. His columns and policy work are published and cited in leading international media such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Caixin, Nikkei, El Pais, La Stampa, FAZ, Handelsblatt, Les Echos, BBC, ZDF, and others.