Category: Invited guests

Professor of quantitative methods and social economics at the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, an economist, as well as Senior Fellow at OCP Policy Center who focuses on Applied econometrics, labor market, economics of education and development economics. He is also the director of GRES (Economic and Social Research Group) at the same university. His research focuses on econometric methodologies applied to social sciences (labor economics, economics of education and Development). Mr. Ibourk’s doctoral thesis looks into the “Contribution to Econometrics through the Labor Market Matching Process: Macro and Microeconometric Approaches to the Moroccan Labor Market.”

Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and former Professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat. 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-Mediterranean Universities Networks. He 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 wrote various publications about economic and social development and international economic relations.

Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South. Jamal Machrouh is professor of international relations at the National School of Business and Management, Ibn Toufaïl University, Kénitra and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, formerly OCP Policy Center, where he focuses on Geopolitics and International Relations issues. Mr. Machrouh is lecturer at the Royal College of Advanced Military Studies of Kénitra and at Södertörn University of Stockholm, Sweden. He is the author of a book titled Justice and Development under World Trade Organization and of various articles dealing with international relations and geopolitics.

Austrian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco. He served as an Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Austrian Representation to the OSCE in preparation and during the Austrian chairmanship of the OSCE in 2017. He held positions at the Austrian Embassies in Norway, Spain and Hungary. He also worked at the Austrian Permanent Representation with the EU and held several positions at the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He holds a degree in Business Administration and International Economics from the University of Economics, Vienna, as well as the Diploma from the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna.

Member of the French Parliament, Representing the Hauts-de-Seine department since june 2017. He was Associate Professor at the Institut d’Etudes politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) between 2002 and 2015 and Member of the European Parliament between 1989 and 2007. He was Chief Counsellor at the French Court of Audit and Senior Auditor at the French Court of Audit. He graduated from the Ecole nationale d’administration. He received an Advanced degree in Contemporary Literature and also graduated from the Institut d’Études politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po).

Executive Director of the Global Compact Network Morocco. He is also Project Coordinator at the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and Senior Advisor of the Climate Change Program of the Center for International Law of Sustainable Development. Previously, he was Special Advisor to the Presidency of COP22, and worked for Valyans Consulting and the International Air Transport Association. He has extensive knowledge in the fields of engineering, law, finance, climate change and sustainable development. He has been honored as an African Leader by the Obama Foundation, and as an Emerging Leader by the OCP Policy Center.

Director of National Evaluation Authority in the Higher Council of education training and research in Morocco (Appointed in 2014), Former President of Hassan II University Mohammedia Casablanca, Former dean and Professor of Sociology in Mohamed V University Agdal Rabat. She is also member of the Moroccan Royal Academy. She has been an invited lecturer or presenter at research activities at universities in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.  She was recognized with an honorary degree honoris causa from Indiana State university in USA in 2006, from Liege University  Belgium  and from Université Paris Ouest Nanterre in Paris France in 2010.

Entrepreneur at Accenture, leading Open Innovation for Africa, where she grants start-ups market access opportunities to accelerate their growth. She founded the Born to Succeed program that is curbing the steep youth unemployment rate in South Africa through education, mentorship and by forming private sector alliances. She is the former Deputy Chairman of Advancement of Black Accountants South Africa Bursary Fund, which addresses the challenges faced by previously disadvantaged learners in accessing institutions of higher learning due to funding constraints. In 2016, she was selected from a pool of 4000 applicants from South Africa to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the U.S. She also represented South Africa at the World Bank Youth Summit 2016, in Washington DC by sharing her EdTech platform called ‘Khwela’. Amongst other accolades she is a Sustainable Development Goals ambassador inaugurated by Ambassador Dessima Williams in Canada, a Play Your Part Ambassador with Brand South Africa and Mzansi’s top 100 inspiring and aspiring leaders of 2017.

Founder and CEO, EMPEOPLE. She focuses on the role of youth in poverty reduction and social inclusion in Africa. She has been involved with social entrepreneurship and empowerment of youth and women for the past 12 years. Working with non-profit organizations as a volunteer, a professional and a consultant, with over 6 years of focus on youth employability to solve one of the biggest issues of Africa: unemployment. In 2015, she created SIDE, Social Impact and Development Employment, a social business focused on youth unemployment. In 2016, she founded EMPEOPLE, that stands for Empower People. She worked on women empowerment, education, youth engagement in public affairs, rural development, and oasis preservation, to finally focus her energy on youth empowerment. Former Program Director of Enactus Morocco. Previously, she was the administrative and financial assistant of project conducted by the UNDP, related to Climate Change Adaptation in Oasis Areas in Morocco.

Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center, who focuses on Energy, renewable energy, projects development, valuation and financing and structuring. Founder of GPower Consultants and an expert in energy planning, and projects development, valuation, financing and structuring. He has 18 years of combined experience in energy projects and investment banking.  In his last position, he was Director in charge of Renewable Projects development, Planning and Strategy at Office National de l’Electricite (ONE) and member of its executive committee. Prior to that, he was Executive Director at Swiss Re in New York and London, and held the same position at Lehman Brothers and various other international financial.

Vice-Chairman of SUN Group, a diversified global group, with both operating and investment companies active in areas including Private Equity, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, High Technology, Gold Mining and Real Estate. He is Executive Chairman of the Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF). He serves on numerous boards and councils. He is a member of the BRICS Business Council delegation and leads the Indian business representation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He sits on the National Council and the International Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and is Chairman of the CII Central Asia Committee. Shiv also serves as the co-chairman of the Aerospace and Defence Council at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He studied at Eton College, earned a BA in economics from Brown, an MBA/MA with distinction from the Wharton School of Business and the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Managing Director of JMS Advisory – Directorship and Financial Services Advisory. Until mid 2022, he has held various senior management positions across BNP Paribas international network. His last position was CEO/Chairman of BNP Paribas Middle East and Africa for Corporate and Institutional Banking from 2015 to 2022. Between 2009 and 2015, he was CEO of BNP Paribas in India. Before joining BNP Paribas, he was Deputy CEO/Chief Risk Officer Asia-Pacific for Crédit Lyonnais, Calyon and Fortis Bank (1999-2009). Between 1995 – 1999, he was Country Manager of Crédit Lyonnais in Thailand and, between 1990 – 1995, Regional Manager of BFCE for South-East Asia based in Singapore. He has always been an active member of the Foreign Trade Advisors of France (CCEF, an official representative of the French business community overseas). He was Chairman of the Hong Kong Committee and is now President of the Bahrain Committee. He is Honorary Chairman of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and also a member of the Advisory Board of the French-Bahraini Chamber of Commerce. He graduated from ESSEC.

Ms. Hayden is a licensed attorney who has spent thirty years in public service and law enforcement serving as a senior advisor to members of the US government – Justice, State, Treasury, Intelligence and Defense – and to International Organizations – International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA). A former Senior Prosecutor for the US Department of Justice, she also served as US DOJ’s first National Security Coordinator and was the DOJ representative to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard setter for combatting money laundering and terrorist finance. As a prosecutor at the ICTY, Ms. Hayden established the UN’s first financial investigation unit and led the financial investigation of Slobodan Milosevic. She currently provides technical assistance and advice to organizations in the public and private sectors, in areas such as integrity building, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering and is on the expert council for PMI IMPACT, and is working with an organization on combatting wildlife trafficking.

Mercy Ships International Diplomatic Ambassador for Africa since 2022. She facilitates partnerships with governments, diplomatic entities and communities, supporting Mercy Ships’ mission to deliver free medical and surgical care to those in need across the African continent. In May 2022, she played a key role in the christening of the Global Mercy™ – the organization’s flagship hospital ship, in Dakar, Senegal. A distinguished pediatrician and reproductive health specialist, Dr Tuakli was the first African woman clinical professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Her work in there contributed to the creation of a special Community Medicine Department at Children’s Hospital of Boston. She was the Founder and Medical Director of CHILD Accra in Ghana, and her contributions to child health education in Africa and the USA have been internationally lauded. As the first female Rotary president in Ghana, she advanced child protection legislation for Africa’s children, earning recognition from the African Union. She also initiated a Rotary funded surgical rotation that has grown into an accredited WHO-supported Safe Surgery in Africa course onboard the Mercy Ships fleet. She has served on several international boards, including Mercy Ships, Zenith Bank, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), the Global Virus Network and CarePoint. In 2022 Dr. Tuakli retired as the first female and non-white Chair of United Way Worldwide’s international board of trustees. She is an acclaimed leader and contributor to global health, and the recipient of numerous awards, including a UN Global Citizens Award and several lifetime achievement honours.

President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way Worldwide, the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit. Under Gallagher’s leadership, United Way is a global leader in community change, an approach that brings people together to create more opportunities for all. In 2002, Gallagher became president and CEO of United Way of America, which merged with United Way International to form United Way Worldwide in 2009. Supported by nearly 3 million volunteers and 9 million donors, United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of people in nearly 1,800 communities worldwide.

Journalist, Chair Publishing conglomerate. In 1992, he bought La Tribune, which he merged with La Cote Desfossés to create La Tribune Desfossés. The distribution of La Tribune thus went from 43 500 to 70 457 paid copies. In 1996, Georges Ghosn, associated with Claude Solarz, an industrialist specializing in the recovery of waste paper, took over Le Nouvel Économiste. From 2012, he resumed business restructuring and bought Swisscosmetics Ch. In June 2018, he bought the weekly magazine VSD from the Prisma Press group.

Vice President, Cities & Public Services, Dassault Systèmes. He started his career as a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), focusing on European security and transatlantic relations. He has worked for EADS-AIRBUS as senior manager in charge of international development. In 2005, he was appointed diplomatic advisor to the French Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, D. Perben. From 2007 to 2015 he worked for Alstom group, in the energy and rail transportation sector, in various capacities. In 2016, he joined the regional council of Paris Region as deputy director general and special advisor to the President, in charge of European affairs, international cooperation and tourism, until September 2019.

Research Fellow and Director of Russia/NIS Center of Ifri since January 2014. Before joining Ifri in 2005, she taught International Relations for the French-Russian Master at MGIMO University (Moscow State Institute of International Relations). At the beginning of her work at Ifri, she developed a rich expertise on issues linked to youth, higher education and innovation in Russia: she is the author of the book Les universités russes sont-elles compétitives ?, CNRS Editions, 2013. She currently heads the trilingual electronic collection Russie.Nei.Visions. She holds a degree from the State University of Ekaterinbourg, a Franco-Russian Master in International Relations from the University of Sciences Po and MGIMO University, and from the University of Marne-la-Vallée in France. In 2020, she published La Russie de Poutine en 100 questions (Paris, Tallandier).

Senior Researcher Emeritus at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), attached to the French Research Institute on East Asia (IFRAE) of the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations, and Professor Emeritus at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is also Senior Researcher at Asia Centre, Paris, Associate Research Fellow at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China in Hong Kong and a Non-Resident Visiting Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington DC. His most recent publications include China Tomorrow: Democracy or Dictatorship?, Lanham, MD, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019 translated into Chinese, updated and published under the title 中國的未來會走向民主還是獨裁, Taipei, 八旗 Gusa, 2024; Facing China: The Prospect for War and Peace, Lanham, MD, Rowman & Littlefield, 2023; Deng Xiaoping, révolutionnaire et modernisateur de la Chine (Deng Xiaoping, Revolutionary and China’s Moderniser), Paris, Tallandier, 2024 and Taiwan. Une démocratie face à la Chine (Taiwan: A Democracy Facing China), Paris, Ed. Le Cavalier Bleu, Coll. Idées Reçues, 2026.

Josep Borrell Fontelles is the High Representative of the European Union and Vice-President of the European Commission. He was a Minister of Public Works and Environment from 1991 to 1996, member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 and its President from 2004 to 2007. Borrell became President of the European University Institute in 2010 and Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute of International Studies at Complutense University of Madrid. In 2018, he was appointed as Foreign Minister for the Spanish government and in 2019 High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Minister of State of Belgium. Former Chief of Staff of the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and in that capacity he was EU ‘Sherpa’ to the G8. Mr. van Daele joined the Belgium diplomatic service in 1971 and throughout his extensive diplomatic career he has been the representative of Belgium in the Security Council and the permanent representative of Belgium to the EU and NATO, as well as Ambassador to the US. He is a former Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and has held various other positions in the Belgian Ministry of Foreign affairs (i.a. Director-General of Political Affairs). Mr. van Daele holds a Master in Philosophy and Arts (romance philology) from the University of Leuven. Between 2013 and 2017, he served as Chief of Staff to His Majesty the King of the Belgians. On retirement Baron van Daele was appointed Minister of State.

Chief Economic Strategist at the MITRE Corporation, a $2.1 billion nonprofit corporation working across government, business, and academia to advance the safety, stability, and well-being of the United States, and Nonresident Scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In both positions, she focuses on the nature of strategic economic competition in today’s international system, the role of innovation and emerging technologies, macroeconomic risks and their impact on policymaking, and U.S. economic statecraft. Senior executive in charge of the Office of Macroeconomic Analysis in the U.S. Treasury Department (October 2016 – August 2018). National Intelligence Manager and National Intelligence Officer for Economics in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (2013-2016). Former economics faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy, National Defense University, New York University, and the U.S. Military Academy. She holds a PhD in Economics from Columbia University and a MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics.

Graduated from HEC, Jean-Paul Agon joined L’Oréal in 1978, in which he has worked his entire career. He successively led several of its brands, countries and geographical zones. He created in particular the Asia-Pacific zone in 1997, that has become the 1st region of the Group since, and then managed the North America Zone as of 2001. He became CEO of L’Oréal in 2006, and then Chairman and CEO from 2011 to 2021. In 15 years, Jean-Paul Agon adapted the company by leading in-depth strategic transformations, notably the digital and e-commerce revolution and the one of responsibility and sustainability. With a double ambition: combining economic performance and exemplarity in environmental, social, ethical and societal fields. The Ethics Resource Center awarded him the “Pace Leadership in Ethics Award” for L’Oréal’s achievements in the area of business ethics, diversity, financial transparency and sustainable development. He is a Director of Air Liquide, co-chairman of the France China Committee, a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists, and a Director of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). He is an officer of the French Legion of Honour.

Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. He is author of EuroTragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts. Previously, he was Deputy Director in the International Monetary Fund’s Research and European Departments. He has worked at the World Bank, AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, and the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and is a non-resident fellow at the Center for Financial Studies, Frankfurt. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University.

President of “Servir en Entreprise” since September 2024, the ENA alumni community in the corporate sector, previously President of Servir (former ENA Alumni Association) from 2017 to 2023 and former member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of France as a qualified person (2015-2021), Daniel Keller is Chief Officer in charge of transversal projects of the Division of complementary pension and social action at Malakoff-Humanis. Graduate of the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, holder of an Agrégation in Literature and former student of the École nationale d’administration (ENA), he began his career at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance as a Civil Administrator in the General Tax Directorate and then in the Tax Legislation Department. He joined the Renault Group where he held various responsibilities in the sales department, in the distribution network, in France and in Europe, as well as in central functions, as Head of Worldwide Sales Quality for the Group. He then managed a group of Renault-Dacia car dealerships in the Paris region. President of the Grand Orient de France from 2013 to 2016, he was then Director of Transformation and Digital at Humanis, in charge of organization, project management and operational efficiency, before becoming Deputy Director for the supplementary pension businesses from 2019 to 2022.