Download or read book Electricity sector Reforms in the MENA Region written by Leila Benali and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uses electricity-sector reforms to question some of the preconceived ideas concerning the MENA region and to provide a broader analysis of related political economy issues. It presents potential further developments of MENA’s electricity-sector reforms, taking into consideration the region’s unique constraints and opportunities, and discusses the practical limits of reform and deregulation. Specifically, it examines the relationship between reforms and oil prices from a new perspective and presents alternatives to the Single Buyer Model. Complementing existing research on electricity-sector reforms in other emerging markets, the book provides a new analytical framework for assessing reforms that can be easily applied to other markets and sectors.

Download or read book Shedding Light on Electricity Utilities in the Middle East and North Africa written by Daniel Camos and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-12-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The electricity sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is in the grip of an apparent paradox. The region holds the world’s largest oil and gas reserves and has been able to universalize access to electricity in most economies, but it may not be able to make the investments required to meet the future power needs of its fast-growing populations. The annual investments to keep pace with the demand for electricity have been estimated at about 3 percent of the region’s projected GDP. In most of the region’s economies, however, financial constraints limit the ability to make those investments. The power sector needs to find its own financing sources—and quickly. Shedding Light on Electricity Utilities in the Middle East and North Africa provides quantitative evidence on how better utility management; sustainable pricing; and selective, context-specific reforms would free enough resources to make the needed investments and lower the operating costs of the sector. The solution involves cutting costs and raising revenues through well-targeted and well-identified improvements. These improvements would generate more financing than the sector’s investment needs. The report provides detailed evidence of the size of the potential gain in each of the 14 MENA economies covered. The analysis is based on the MENA Electricity Database, a new dataset covering 67 electricity utilities, as well as a sample of utilities in comparable economies from other regions. The authors hope that their benchmarking efforts will provide a regional- and utility-level frame of reference for sector performance in the region. The book will be of interest to managers of electricity utilities, regulators, policy makers, and other stakeholders concerned with the performance of utilities in the region.

Download or read book Electricity Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa MENA written by Leila Benali and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis offers an evaluation of MENA electric reforms, and suggests one possibility of evolution. After an analysis of the factors behind these reforms and an assessment of capacity and investment needs, the relationship between these reforms and each of oil prices and regional interconnections is examined under a new angle. We then propose a quantitative and qualitative (attractiveness, feasibility, credibility and remediability) evaluation of these reforms. The Single Buyer Model appears suitable, albeit not optimal. Our proposed alternative (SBM-plus), feasible and flexible, allows improvements. The State’s identity evolves and the region’s new national champions would be dual firms, politically well-connected but economically pragmatic. Consumer protection and political structures should balance market power but regulation is strongly needed. The third chapter tests these reforms’ future in view of two policy considerations: the fuel mix question and the sustainable wealth creation. Surprisingly, the fuel pricing policy does not necessarily lead to a long-term impoverishment, but this path might not be optimal and fuel pricing is evolving anyway. New fuel pricing can be applied in steps, impacting electric and industrial sectors, as the country transforms from a fuel exporter to a fuel monetizer. Electric reforms do not contradict fuel diversification policies, but introducing new technologies requires the State to step in again. Economic, environmental and social sustainability can not be left to market forces.

Download or read book Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa written by Mr.Carlo A Sdralevich and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-07-09 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

Download or read book The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa written by David Ramin Jalilvand and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in disarray, and shifts in the field of energy have the potential to drastically affect the course of political and economic developments in the region. Declining oil prices, skyrocketing domestic demand, the rise of unconventional oil and natural gas production in North America, as well as shifting patterns of global energy trade all put severe pressures on both producing and importing countries in the MENA region. Policy-makers are facing fundamental challenges in light of the duality of grand transformations in (geo)politics and energy. Changes in the field of energy require substantial political and economic reforms, affecting the very fabric of sociopolitical arrangements. At the same time, the MENA region’s geopolitical volatility makes any such reforms extremely risky. Including contributions by academics and analysts from both inside and outside the MENA region, this volume explores the changes in global and regional energy, the impact of changing international energy dynamics on politics and economies in the MENA region, and the challenges that will result. This is essential reading for researchers, postgraduates, and professionals in Middle Eastern and North African politics, global energy governance and regionalism.

Download or read book Power Sector Reform and Renewable Energy in the MENA Region written by Eric Eyges and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of the Arab Spring, media professionals and academics have expanded the scope of their focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Yet, relatively little attention has been paid to two powerful forces that could significantly affect its economic and political landscape: power sector reform and renewable energy development initiatives. This paper attempts to outline the history and future of these initiatives in the region by focusing on three MENA region countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with a focus on Abu Dhabi, along with Egypt, and Morocco. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how these two initiatives are affecting one another in the context of the domestic political landscape and economy. The results of this analysis point to three key aspects of power sector reform initiatives affecting domestic renewable energy development: the level of governmental financial supervision, electricity subsidies, and the terms of engagement between the state-run single buyer utility and independent power producers (IPPs).

Download or read book Public Sector Reform in the Middle East and North Africa written by Robert P. Beschel and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical examinations of efforts to make governments more efficient and responsive Political upheavals and civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have obscured efforts by many countries in the region to reform their public sectors. Unwieldy, unresponsive—and often corrupt—governments across the region have faced new pressure, not least from their publics, to improve the quality of public services and open up their decisionmaking processes. Some of these reform efforts were under way and at least partly successful before the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2010. Reform efforts have continued in some countries despite the many upheavals since then. This book offers a comprehensive assessment of a wide range of reform efforts in nine countries. In six cases the reforms targeted core systems of government: Jordan's restructuring of cabinet operations, the Palestinian Authority's revision of public financial management, Morocco's voluntary retirement program, human resource management reforms in Lebanon, an e-governance initiative in Dubai, and attempts to improve transparency in Tunisia. Five other reform efforts tackled line departments of government, among them Egypt's attempt to improve tax collection and Saudi Arabia's work to improve service delivery and bill collection. Some of these reform efforts were more successful than others. This book examines both the good and the bad, looking not only at what each reform accomplished but at how it was implemented. The result is a series of useful lessons on how public sector reforms can be adopted in MENA.

Download or read book Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa written by Mr.Hamid R Davoodi and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-09-05 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Download or read book Key Challenges and Policy Reforms in the MENA Region written by Mohamed Sami Ben Ali and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-04-22 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses economic challenges and policy reforms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Despite important resources and strategic advantages, the region suffers from a number of economic, social, and political problems that impedes normal economic take-off. The volume contains theoretical and empirical studies covering individual countries and panel studies addressing these economic challenges. Chapters address issues such as economic growth; poverty and inequality; subsidies and public finances policies; external trade and financial liberalization; remittances, corruption, transparency, and institutions; renewable energy, digitalization, terrorism, regional integration, capital flight, money laundering, financial development and brain drain. Providing a comprehensive understanding of the most important and urgent economic challenges in the region, this volume will be a useful reference for researchers and policymakers interested in the MENA region.

Download or read book Market Dynamics and Productivity in Developing Countries written by Khalid Sekkat and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2010 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To what degree are trade liberalization, productivity, and economic growth correlated? Can economic policies designed to encourage competition and curtail industry protection result in large-scale improvements, such as increased innovation and reduced unemployment? After 20 years of economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), economic performance is still lagging behind many regions of the world. Even in those countries that are the most advanced in implementing reforms, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, industries with low productivity growth and high market power continue to dominate. Moreover, the termination of the Multi-Fiber Agreement and the negotiations concerning further liberalization of trade in agricultural products (under the framework of the World Trade Organization) put these and other countries under pressure of fierce competition from emerging nations. Recent empirical evidence on the impact of reforms in a number of developing countries shows that such persistence of inefficiency and market power is specific to MENA. Showcasing in-depth analyses from Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey (with comparative data from Asia and Latin America), this book focuses on the dynamics of firm entry and exit to help explain the low productivity of the region. The results suggest a number of policy recommendations designed to foster competition, which, in turn, would contribute to innovation, productivity growth, and improved return on capital investments. The book not only reveals important correlations among policy and market factors in MENA, but suggests fruitful areas of research in other developing regions of the world.

Download or read book The Power of Civil Society in the Middle East and North Africa written by Ibrahim Natil and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-05-24 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the power of civil society in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in the context of the post-Arab Spring era, as well as more long-standing challenges and constraints in the region. In recent years, local civil society actors have faced significant challenges from social conservatism, conflict, violence, and the absence of democracy and exclusive political systems. Over the course of the book, the authors investigate how the sector has succeeded in achieving its own objectives despite these shifting conditions, the restrictive political environment and the complexity of the socio-cultural and economic context. Structured around the three themes of peace-building, development, and change, the book also addresses challenges faced by civil society organizations linked to ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversities as well as religious salient differences that are crucial markers of social and political identity. Case studies are drawn from the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Jordan, Iran, Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, and Morocco, and particular effort has been made to showcase original research from contributors who are from the region . This book will be of particular interest to researchers working on development, peace-building, conflict resolution, civil society, and politics within the MENA region.

Download or read book Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa written by Mustapha Rouis and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2012-12-11 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book summarizes the constraints to and opportunities for deepening economic integration within the MENA region and beyond. Trade and investment reform are discussed together with physical connectivity, cross-border trade facilitation, infrastructure networks, and the vital role of logistics.

Download or read book Middle East and North Africa Investment Policy Perspectives written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Middle East and North Africa Investment Policy Perspectives highlights the considerable progress in investment policies made by the region’s governments over the past decade. Yet, the reform momentum needs to be sustained and deepened for the benefits of investment to be shared with society at large and for growth to be sustainable, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global economic upheaval.

Download or read book Rethinking Power Sector Reform written by Erik Magnus Fernstrom and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The need for greater efficiency and accountability in the power sector in the Middle East and North Africa has renewed pressure for reforms. A major new World Bank report, Rethinking Power Sector Reform in the Developing World (Foster and Rana 2020), examines how developing countries have attempted to reform their power sector and with what results. Some key lessons point the way forward.

Download or read book Fuel Subsidy Reform Decentralised Electricity Markets and Renewable Energy Trade written by Tanya Shaar and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last few decades have witnessed widespread attempts by the international community to combat rising global temperatures. Without a doubt, instruments such as the Paris Agreement have proven essential in fighting climate change by promoting the use of renewable energy and energy transitions. Problematically, regions that rely heavily on fossil fuel consumption, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, have struggled in undertaking their energy transitions and decarbonizing their economies. As such, this paper aims to discuss the evidence for a widespread energy transition in the MENA region via economic, legal and social reforms. This article argues that to achieve a successful energy transition in the region, the removal of fuel subsidies must occur, the decentralization of energy markets promoted and renewable trade incentivized. It suggests that fossil fuel exporting MENA countries should continue to diversify their economies in order to reduce reliance on their energy sectors. In turn, this will enable them to undertake fossil fuel subsidy reforms and invest money into renewable energy projects uninterruptedly. To add to this, MENA countries should look to decentralise their energy markets to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels for energy production. Decentralized solar energy, in specific, has extensive potential in the region and would enable a transition toward energy self-sufficiency. This article then concludes that trade practices and climate mitigation are mutually exclusive, and proposes recommendations on how the World Tarde Organization can be used to better promote energy transitions.

Download or read book Beyond the Political Economy of Electricity and Gas Trade in the Middle East and North Africa Region written by Weltbankgruppe and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This note is intended to support ongoing efforts to promote Pan-Arab energy trade by highlighting the role and benefits of intra-regional electricity and gas exchange, with a view to improving energy security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. After some background, this note contributes to discussions on energy security within the region by highlighting various aspects of the current political economy of the energy sector, specifically electricity and gas, which are relevant to the discussion on cooperation for regional integration and their convergence with sustainable development. This note argues that, given the benefits of trade and technological developments outlined herein, the time is right to move from cooperation agreements towards the operationalization and implementation of trade by developing the necessary institutional and regulatory building blocks. Innovative technologies and wider economic trends are converging in new ways that amplify synergies within traditional energy sectors (such as oil, gas, and power) and foster emerging sectors such as hydrogen. Subsequent sections will review the state of electricity and gas trade in the region; sub-regional initiatives to promote interconnections and market integration; and prospects for these sectors. However, some general observations can be drawn in advance about the regional context for overall trade.

Download or read book State Owned Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa written by Merih Celasun and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experienced contributors with a balanced and realistic view of the prospects for privatization and the reform of state-owned enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa Clearly written and well structured, with numerous useful references to other studies at the end of each chapter