Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Ernest Sergenti

Author

Ernest Sergenti
Senior Economist, The World Bank

Ernest John Sergenti is a Senior Research Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa region. Ernest returned to the World Bank in 2017 after three years as an Assistant Vice President at Moody’s Investors Service, where he was the lead analyst for the Caucasus and Central Asia. Within the World Bank, Ernest has also worked as a macro economist, within the Western and Central Africa and South Asia regions, specializing in resource-rich economies, productivity analysis, macroeconomic modeling, and political institutional analysis. Ernest was also a Research Fellow and Statistical Consultant at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. He holds a PhD in Political Science, with concentrations in Political Economy and Econometrics, from New York University and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics. Ernest has co-authored several publications, including articles in the Journal of Political Economy and the American Journal of Political Science, on economic growth, political party competition, the effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping operations, and the impacts of economic shocks on civil conflict.

Content by this Author

MENA’s unexpectedly low inflation

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, inflation rates in most countries of the Middle East and North Africa have been lower than in Europe and the United States. This column explores why – and what are the implications for government budgets.

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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