On 19 November, Dr Nasser Saidi gave a lecture at LSE on the need for economic reforms and roadmaps across the Middle East and North Africa. 

“Roadmaps, of course, is a dirty word,” said Dr Saidi in the lecture. “It’s a four-letter word in our part of the world. We’ve had so many roadmaps that have led nowhere, but I chose it [in my title] deliberately because we are in a period very much of change, uncertainty, perhaps transition and the problem with roadmaps is you don’t know really where they are going to lead. That’s what we are going to talk about tonight.” 

In addition to some explosive facts and figures (Here’s one: 55 percent of the population in the Middle East and North Africa is under 24 years old; 40 percent of those young people who are eligible to work are currently unemployed), Dr Saidi outlined his own roadmap, including 10 items that he said should be part of any future policy agendas or economic roadmaps set for the region.

Listen to Dr Saidi’s lecture here.

Named among the 50 most influential Arabs in the world by The Middle East magazine this year for the fourth consecutive year, Dr Nasser Saidi is the former Chief Economist and Head of External Relations of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Executive Director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and The Mudara Institute of Directors at the DIFC between 2006 and 2012. He is a member of LSE’s Middle East Centre Advisory Board. Click here for a longer biography.