The North Africa Journal: North Africa Security Assessment and Business Outlook Briefing

North Africa Security Assessment and Business Outlook Briefing
================================================================================
Ther North Africa Journal on 13 April, 2010 02:00:00
 
North Africa’s Maghreb zone has emerged over the past few years as a promising
market, while remaining a deeply complex political region. The national
economies and both the private and public sectors are growing, so are the
security risks. Learning about the pros and cons for any organization seeking to
do business there and control risk is a must.
First, the security environment combines a possible permanent threat from
Al-Qaeda North Africa, and looming problems over leadership successions in most
Maghreb nations in the medium term. Regional feuds remain a divisive problem
limiting opportunities for intra-North Africa cooperation and weakening the
region’s security posture. And social tension could erupt as the countries
move into more open market economies.
Economically, growth in the region is driven by oil and gas exports from Algeria
and Libya, and expended industrial bases in the emerging markets of Morocco and
Tunisia. This expansion of national economies is happening as the Maghreb region
is working to anchor its economies to the European Union, while continuing to
seek opportunities through a series of free-trade agreements. We believe, the
region is poised to maintain positive momentum in the coming years.
For global companies looking to leverage this growth, the challenge is to
properly assess where the opportunities lie and how to manage the risks inherent
to entering untapped markets and relatively unknown cultures. Such challenges
span from managing a tough labor market to understanding security posture to
adopt, and everything else in between.
If you are a foreign government or international institution interested in North
Africa, the region’s proximity to Europe, the Sahel and the Middle East is in
itself source of challenges. From the presence of Al Qaeda in the Sahara/Sahel,
to drug and human trafficking, there are no shortages of potential hot spots.
These various security factors require a solid understanding of internal and
regional politics and cultures, in an assessment that would help make sense of
events there and help manage risk accordingly.
This breakfast briefing is designed international affairs professionals,
security analysts, diplomats and representatives of the businesses active in the
region or seeking involvment there. The event is designed to enable interaction
and networking and therefore space is limited. If you are interested to attend
please visit  http://www.north-africa.com/premium/conferences/  where details
such as registration and speakers’ bios are included. You may also call us at
US+508-981-6937.