Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Cyrine Hannafi

Author

Cyrine Hannafi
Post-Doctoral Researcher, University Paris-Est Créteil

Cyrine Hannafi holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a master's in econometrics from Aix Marseille School of Economics (AMSE). She is currently occupying a post-doctoral position at UPEC - University Paris-Est Créteil working on the non-take up of social benefits in France. Her research experience includes applied econometrics, development economics and migration. During her Ph.D., she has worked on several development economic issues in the developing world mainly on poverty, economic growth and health. Moreover, she has also worked on the Syrian conflict and its local determinants, exploiting regional panel data during the conflict. After completing her Ph.D, she had the opportunity to obtain a fellowship from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Minnesota, US whose the aim is to bring together young researchers from the Arab world to work on economic vulnerability in the region. In this context, I was working on an individual project on the social and economic integration of the Syrian refugees in Germany and their intention to stay.

Content by this Author

The decline of social insurance in Egypt: directions for reform

The longstanding challenge for the Egyptian economy of providing its workers with decent, formal, socially insured jobs has become even more difficult. As this column explains, informality has been rising rather than falling, with a substantial reduction in social insurance coverage for the employed since the late 1990s. Reforms are needed to reverse this decline.

Most read

The green transition in MENA economies: challenges and policy pathways

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa are at a critical turning point. Global decarbonisation pressures, energy market volatility and technological transformation are increasingly challenging hydrocarbon-based growth models. This column argues that the green transition is not only an environmental necessity but also a strategic economic imperative.

Beyond job creation: how can Egypt’s gender gap in work be closed?

More than 2 million jobs are needed each year to absorb new entrants into Egypt’s labour market and raise the country’s employment rate. The job challenge is even more acute for women, whose labour force participation remains low despite recent gains in education. This column reports on the second Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank Group joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at the American University in Cairo to consider how the country’s gender gap in work can be closed.

The political economy of algorithms in the Middle East

The Middle East is entering a new political-economic era – one in which algorithms, data and artificial intelligence may become as strategically important as oil once was. Across the region, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart governance and AI-driven economic transformation. This column outlines how AI and algorithmic governance are reshaping power, inequality and state capacity in the region.

Digitalisation, global value chains and regional integration in MENA & SSA

Participation in global value chains is vital for countries pursuing structural transformation and inclusive economic development. This column summarises new evidence on how much production processes have been globalised in Africa and the Middle East relative to other regions; whether this process has taken place with partners within or outside the region; and whether it has taken place more in manufacturing or services.

How trade policy can reduce MENA’s cereal import vulnerability

Heavy dependence on imported cereals, combined with climate change, water scarcity and geopolitical uncertainty, continues to threaten food resilience across MENA. This column explains how an inclusive trade policy can play a key role in making the region’s food security less vulnerable to shocks.




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