Connecting voices and ideas for influence & projects
In the lead up to COP21, The Bridge Tank’s president Joël Ruet attended a dinner at the French Senate with Mrs Hakima El Haité, Minister Delegate in Charge of Environment in Morocco, where COP22 will be hosted in 2016 and, in her words, “continue the line of COP21”. Continue reading “Paris – From the “pro-mitigation COP” to the “pro-adaptation COP””
At the 2015 MEDays Forum in Tangier, Morocco, The Bridge Tank’s president, Joël Ruet, commented that inclusive development starts from the bottom up, driven by the grassroots dynamism of people determined to act. However, although it is impossible to impose any kind of model on the world — particularly in the Global South — nothing will happen unless the elites act with utmost integrity and assume their responsibility to create the conditions that foster the proactive initiatives of their national youth and entrepreneurs. Continue reading “Tangier – Inclusive growth implies inventiveness”
As the COP21 conference draws closer, India is refusing to follow the open position of China and provide figures on emissions declines. The Environment Minister of India, Prakash Javadekar, admitted that the government’s priority right now is on electricity access and poverty reduction, even though 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India. That being said, India’s willingness to modernise its industry and increase the energy potential matched the spirit of the sustainable development goals in some ways, since the country has the ambition to obtain a solar energy capacity of 100GW by 2022. Read more in Frenchin that editorial of Joël Ruet and Sophia Semlali, published in Telos on the 9thof December 2015.
The acceleration of the internationalisation of Chinese firms is imminent. Backed by over ten years of expertise, convinced that this dynamic is a “win-win” for China and Europe but aware of bottlenecks, The Bridge Tank participates in the elaboration of new models for internationalisation of Chinese firms.
Continue reading “Internationalisation of businesses with Chinese characteristics”
Emergence is not just industrial or urban. The Bridge Tank outlines a strategy for inclusive growth through the creation-densification of agricultural economic ecosystems forming a diversified rural economy.
In the context of the emergence of urban economies of Asia and Africa, this Policy brief sets out an inclusive growth strategy through the creation-densification of agricultural economic ecosystems forming a truly diversified rural economy, making it possible to ensure food security by generating income. Generalizing successful or ambitious national initiatives, it recommends for developing sub-Saharan Africa and Asia a territorial-level coordination of initiatives already implemented by economic actors at local scales. After the aporia of “development”, emergence re-widens the horizon. Everywhere in the South, it is time to structure a true rural economy.
Read the policy brief here in French.
The third India-Africa Forum Summit was held in New Delhi, India, from 26th to 29th October 2015.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited African heads of states and governments. This summit notably included a discussion with the Indian Minister of Finance Arun Jaitly, as well as one with the Kenyan delegation, which was organised by the Observer Resource Foundation.
One highlight of the India-Africa Summit was the intervention of the Senegalese President Macky Sall on the changing role of investors. This discussion was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, represented by its Chairman and gathered the main Indian CEOs.
The Bridge Tank was the only European think tank to be invited to the debates and exchanges in connexion to its support to reforms in Africa, for instance the Emerging Plan of Sénégal (PSE), as well as its contribution for years to several Indian public policies.
Despite growth rates that are close to Asian levels, Africa continues to draw doubts from experts, who point to various structural problems. African elites are conscious of the challenges, but promote a positive vision focused on solutions and opportunities. Mohamed Soual (Chief Economist of Moroccan’s leading industrial company), Mamadou Lamine Diallo (Senegal Member of Parliament) and Joël Ruet (Chairman of the Bridge Tank) join voices in this column published in Le Monde Afrique on the 3rdof November 2015. These three authors analyse the African issues and economical challenges, with a specific focus on green revolution potential, local and regional cooperation, and mining and energy sectors incomes:. Read the text in French…
It’s Africa’s turn to emerge according to experts. But according to those external voices, it will only happen provided that the continent enhances its natural resources. In this column published in Le Monde on the 13th of October 2015, Joel Ruet and El Hadj Kassé (Minister-Counselor to the President of Senegal) believe that the conditions are quite different than the picture being painted by these experts. They advocate for inclusive growth in Africa, with qualitative investment in people and internal and sustainable dynamics, which will enable these countries to move away from sole reliance on natural resources income. Read the text in French…
Global leaders are gathering in New York this week for the 70thregular session of the United Nations General Assembly, and the search for Ban Ki-moon’s successor is intensifying. Candidates will be needed who have experience in shepherding complex multilateral relationships, can be a bridge builder between the United States, Russia, and China, and crucially have a vision for the UN during their tenure.
Which names will be whispered in the halls of Turtle Bay? Who is staking their claim? And which candidates are best placed to succeed Ban Ki-moon and lead the United Nations? Here is the list of confirmed or rumored candidates from Eastern Europe … Read more
The first United Nations Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, knew what he was talking about when he described it as “the most impossible job on this earth”… The inherent difficulty of the Secretary-General’s job is the result of tensions built into the United Nations system, especially the gap between the high ideals set out in the UN Charter and the hard reality of great power diplomacy on which it depends. Read more …
