Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World
Books, April 29, 2022
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- Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World
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Bibliographic details
- Published: April 29, 2022
- Series: Books
Major challenges highlighted
- High share of inactive youth (not engaged in employment, education, or training).
- Large gaps in economic opportunities for women.
- Fragmented social protection systems.
- Underdeveloped private sectors characterized by:
- tight regulation,
- absence of a level playing field,
- limited access to credit that stifle the creation of new firms and growth, employment, and incomes.
- Uneven impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately affecting:
- the low-skilled,
- the young,
- women,
- migrant workers in employment and incomes.
Key findings and statistics
- Despite pre-pandemic gains in poverty reduction, literacy, and lifespans, many MENA economies have not ensured equitable distribution of development benefits.
- The recession associated with the pandemic risks wiping out past progress and could exacerbate inequality in a durable way.
- Expected entry of 27 million young people into the labor force over the next 10 years.
- The book argues that a return to the old social contract is neither desirable nor feasible.
Policy directions and recommendations
- Reassess the inclusive growth agenda in light of the rapidly changing pandemic-influenced world.
- Embrace global trade and technological advances as opportunities to implement policies that foster higher and more inclusive growth.
- Leverage evolving demographics at home to support policy reforms.
- Implement policies suited to the regional context to boost job-rich and inclusive growth within a resilient macroeconomic policy framework.
- Provide guidance to policymakers on how best to promote inclusive growth, including engagement with all stakeholders.
Objectives and scope
- Objective: Reassess the inclusive growth agenda in the MENA region post-pandemic.
- Scope: Present a comprehensive view of policies tailored to the regional context to boost job creation, inclusion, and resilience of macroeconomic policy.
Keywords and thematic coverage
- climate change, financial inclusion, future of work, gender, inclusive growth, inequality, job creation, MENA, private sector development, SOE