Economic Opportunities and Social Challenges in the North African Transition

Economic factors seem to have played a major role in the recent Arab awakening throughout North Africa. The perception of exclusion, the deteriorating standards of living, the high (and rising) unemployment rate were among the many reasons behind the 2011 revolutions. People demanded, among other things, a new socioeconomic model of economic participation and development. But six years after the ‘Arab Spring’, the perception of inequality has risen and the social and political unrest sweeping the Arab world has further deteriorated the economic and social situation of average citizens. Governments have started to take measures to reverse the rising unemployment figures and to shift spending in favour of the most disadvantaged sections of society. But in turning back to World Bank and IMF endorsed neoliberal policies, governments run the risk of further alienating the youth who spearheaded the revolution. Moreover, new political actors emerged in the North African transition: the Arab Gulf countries – in particular, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE – have been playing a leading geopolitical role and there is a great likelihood that they will get increasingly involved in North African reconstruction and development. In this new scenario, understanding the factors that are driving economic inequality is a crucial issue, not just for reasons of pursuing equity and economic inclusion, but also for political reasons. Focusing mainly on Tunisia and Egypt (two countries where the 2011 revolutions share many similarities), this paper aims at exploring how the post-revolution political and economic situation is affecting the status of women and young people, who played a significant role in the revolutionary phase.