Nasser Dine Mohamedou

Economist, Public Policy Specialist, and Data Scientist

Mohamedou Nasser Dine is Mauritania's economist, public policy specialist, and data scientist. He holds a Ph.D. in International Public Policy from Osaka University, Japan, specializing in spatial econometrics and its applications in labor economics and trade. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Spatial Econometrics and its Applications in Labor Economics." Mohamedou earned a Master's degree in Financial Mathematics from Mohammed V University in Morocco. Throughout his academic career, He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Japanese Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Integration, and the African Education Review. He has also authored several policy briefs and columns published in the Economic Research Forum. Mohamedou has served as a Project Manager and Head of the Accelerator Lab at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Mauritania and Economic and Banking specialist with UNDP IICPSD in Istanbul. With over seven years of experience in the financial and banking sectors, he has also worked as an economic consultant for the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta. His research interests include labor economics, international trade, public economics, education, and applied econometrics. Additionally, Mohamedou has worked as a teaching assistant at Osaka University.

Determinants of school attendance in Mauritania

What are the determinants of school attendance in Mauritania? This column reports on analysis of data from the country’s 2019 National Household Survey, which highlights how factors like gender, age, residency and access to resources such as phones and national identification influence school attendance. The research findings offer insights into the challenges of ensuring equitable access to education and provide a basis for targeted policy interventions.

National economic institutions and participation in the global value chain

The economic institutions of a country – including property rights, business freedom and government integrity – play a central role in determining the extent of its participation in the global value chain. This column reports new research findings on associations between eight economic institutions and integration into international trade networks in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Employment, global value chains and spillover effects in Turkey

Firms’ involvement in global value chains is increasing rapidly and it is vital for policy-makers to understand the direct effects on domestic employment, as well as spillover effects on the economy. This column sheds light on participation trends in Turkey and its repercussions for jobs.

Productivity, global value chains and cross-industry spillovers in Turkey

Participation in global value chains is widely understood to have positive effects on firms’ productivity. Less appreciated is the significance of input-output interlinkages between industrial sectors as sources of productivity spillovers. This column explores the magnitude of these effects for industries in Turkey.

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.

The Forum ERF

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