WTO membership and closer integration with the European Union in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership are reinforcing pressures on MEDA countries to improve their competitive position. Privatisation, regulatory reform, and the creation of independent regulatory agencies in telecoms...

Large Western corporations have long invested overseas to penetrate markets, seek resources, and increase efficiency. After the explosion of inward FDI to the South in the 1990s, it is now the turn of the largest companies from emerging and transition economies, including the so-called BRICs, to...

This Technical Paper analyses the main policy issues raised by regulatory reform in air transport in sub–Saharan Africa. Its basic premise is that improving air infrastructure is of paramount importance for the region as it tries to integrate more thoroughly into the world economy. On the...

The emergence of a "second wave" of developing-country multinational enterprises (MNEs) in a variety of industries is one of the characterizing features of globalization. These new MNEs did not delay their internationalisation until they were large, as did most of their predecessors, and often...

Brazil is going through an institutional transition in the provision of public services, which had historically been supplied by State monopolies. A core element in this process is been the creation of a new form of public sector institutions - regulatory agencies with operational and financial...

Mercosur has appeared as the most promising regional trade agreement ever since its creation in 1991. This paper compares its objectives with some of its early results, especially increased foreign direct investment and trade volumes — despite some controversial studies suggesting that...

• En renforçant la confiance, l’intégration régionale en Afrique subsaharienne devient un instrument de promotion de l’investissement privé. Atteindre ces objectifs politiques exige des priorités claires et faciles à suivre. • Une harmonisation régionale des politiques, des...

La forte demande d’énergie et de minerais par la Chine et l’Inde a poussé à la hausse les prix internationaux des matières premières, ainsi que le volume et la valeur des exportations africaines.

La tendance de long terme au recul de l’instabilité politique s’est confirmée en 2006 avec la diminution des conflits armés, qui restent pourtant fréquents. Plusieurs pays africains ont organisé des élections pluralistes et les progrès vers la démocratie participative sont...

Les infrastructures de transport ont été dangereusement négligées ces dernières années en Afrique. Le manque d’infrastructures de transport est un frein à l’intégration économique et à la réduction de la pauvreté.