Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Mohammed Laksaci

Author

Mohammed Laksaci
Former governor, Bank of Algeria

Mohammed Laksaci graduated from Algiers's Ecole Superieure de Commerce in 1978 with a bachelor degree in finance. He holds a bachelorís and a masterís degree in economics from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium). In 1985, he received his PhD in economics from UCLouvain, where he also worked as a teaching assistant from 1982 to 1985 in charge of the Monetary Theory course. From 1986 to 1990, he was a lecturer at Algiersís Ecole Superieure de Commerce and president of its scientific council. From 2001 to 2016, he was Governor at the International Monetary Fund for Algeria, and a member of its international monetary and financial committee representing a group of six countries : Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Morocco and Tunisia. During that period, he also served as Vice-Governor at the Arab Monetary Fund. Laksaci was nominated president of the Association of African Central Banks twice. Since November 2016, he is a visiting lecturer at Ecole Superieure de Commerce, dispensing courses for PhD students.

Content by this Author

Rethinking the macroeconomics of resource-rich countries

After years of high commodity prices, a new era of lower prices, especially for oil, will be challenging for resource-rich countries, which must cope with the decline in income and the potential widening of internal and external imbalances. This column summarises a recent eBook in which leading economists examine the shifting landscape in commodity markets and explore the exchange rate, monetary and fiscal policy options, as well as the role of finance, including sovereign wealth funds and diversification.

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Artificial intelligence and the renewable energy transition in MENA

Artificial intelligence has the potential to bridge the gap between abundant natural resources and the pressing need for reliable, sustainable power in the Middle East and North Africa. This column outlines the constraints and proposes policies that can address the challenges of variability of renewable resources and stress on power grids, and support the transformation of ‘sunlight’ to ‘smart power’.

Arab youth and the future of work

The Arab region’s labour markets are undergoing a triple transformation: demographic, digital and green. As this column explains, whether these forces evolve into engines of opportunity or drivers of exclusion for young people will hinge on how swiftly and coherently policy-makers can align education, technology and employment systems to foster adaptive skills, inclusive institutions and innovation-led pathways to decent work.

Digitalising governance in MENA: opportunities for social justice

Can digital governance promote social justice in MENA – or does it risk deepening inequality and exclusion? This column examines the evolution of digital governance in three sub-regions – Egypt, Jordan and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – highlighting how data practices, transparency mechanisms and citizen trust shape the social outcomes of technological reform.

Wrong finance in a broken multilateral system: red flags from COP30-Belém

With the latest global summit on climate action recently wrapped up, ambitious COP pledges and initiatives continue to miss delivery due to inadequate commitments, weak operationalisation and unclear reporting systems. As this column reports, flows of climate finance remain skewed: loans over grants; climate mitigation more than climate adaptation; and weak accountability across mechanisms. Without grant-based finance, debt relief, climate-adjusted lending and predictable multilateral flows, implementation of promises will fail.

Why political connections are driving business confidence in MENA

This column reports the findings of a new study of how the political ties of firms in the Middle East and North Africa boost business confidence. The research suggests that this optimism is primarily driven by networked access to credit and lobbying, underscoring the need for greater transparency and institutional reform in corporate governance.




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