Over the last few decades, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt have seen integration into global value chains as a key path to industrial and economic development. Benefiting from proximity to the European market, free trade agreements with the EU, and historical trade and business links with some European countries, these countries have emerged as an important platform for the re-location of labour intensive activities in sectors such as textiles, automotives, and electronics. This has developed new Mediterranean production networks, linking the north and south of the Mediterranean sea. While such a model has achieved relative success in terms of job creation and export diversification, political and socio-economic shifts on both sides of the Mediterranean have begun to challenge the viability of this model as a developmental path for the North African economies.

Examining the cases of the automotive and textile industries, this event will highlight some of the findings from an ongoing research project looking into these production networks, their socio-economic impacts in North Africa, and the challenges facing the North African economies in regards to diversification and upgrading.

Shamel Azmeh is Lecturer in International Development at the University of Manchester. He is a Visiting Fellow at LSE Middle East Centre where he is leading a three-year collaboration project at the Centre with the American University in Cairo examining the integration of Morocco and Egypt in 'Mediterranean Production Networks' with European partners. 

Abeer Elshennawy is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the American University in Cairo and co-principal investigator in the collaboration project between LSE Middle East Centre and  the American University in Cairo examining the integration of Morocco and Egypt in 'Mediterranean Production Networks' with European partners. 

Bilal Malaeb is a postdoctoral research officer at the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Bilal’s expertise is in Microeconometrics and Development Economics, and his research interests are in migration, poverty, and labour market issues.

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