Coming to Casablanca: The United States and the Maghreb Build Economic Partnership
For businesses seeking to access North Africa's emerging market, NAPEO offers a window of opportunity for long-term sustainability through public-private partnerships
In his 2009 speech at Cairo University, President Obama called for broad, cross-sector partnerships to promote prosperity and sustainable growth in North Africa, focusing on youth, education, economic development and science and technology.
"All these things must be done in partnership," he said. "Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments; community organizations, religious leaders, and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life."[1]
CROSS-SECTOR, CROSS-BORDER: SHARED PROSPERITY THROUGH PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
The following year, Obama's vision was implemented when the U.S.-North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (NAPEO), a regional public-private partnership (PPP) led by the U.S. Department of State and the Aspen Institute's Partners for a New Beginning (PNB), was launched at the inaugural U.S.-Maghreb Entrepreneurship Conference in Algeria.
Involving the nations in the Maghreb—Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia—NAPEO is aimed at fostering regional integration, creating job opportunities for young people by providing education and skills training and nurturing "locally-owned, mutually beneficial partnerships between leaders, innovators, and organizations from the United States and the Maghreb that foster economic opportunity and regional integration," according to a June 7 State Department press release.[2]
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Reynard is a Justmeans staff writer for Sustainable Finance and Corporate Social Responsibility. A former media executive with 15 years experience in the private and non-profit sectors, Reynard is the co-founder of MomenTech, a New York-based experimental production studio that explores transnational progressivism, neo-nomadism, post-humanism and futurism. He is also author of the blog 13.7 Billion Years, covering cosmology, biodiversity, animal welfare, conservation and ethical consumption. He is currently developing the Underground Desert Living Unit (UDLU), a sustainable single-family dwelling envisioned as a potential adaptation response to the future loss of human habitat due to the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Reynard is also a contributing author of "Biomes and Ecosystems," a comprehensive reference encyclopedia of the Earth's key biological and geographic classifications, to be published by Salem Press in 2013.
