North Africa (NA) includes the six Arab states of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan. In recent years, NA has attracted a great deal of attention.
First, it was the birthplace of Arab nationalism and state-led development in the post-independence period. NA has also been the pioneer of market-oriented reforms in the Arab world after 1980.
Finally, NA is the birthplace of the Arab Spring, which erupted first in Tunisia in late 2010 before spreading to the rest of the Arab world. This chapter focuses on factors affecting the choice of economic ideologies in relation to the evolution of economic policy, and the individuals/institutions behind such choices, throughout North African history.NA is not a homogenous region. Although NA is overwhelmingly Muslim, diversities exist in terms of geographic and demographic size, per capita income, natural endowments, political systems and ethnic backgrounds. Libya and Algeria are rich in hydrocarbons (exporters), while Morocco and Tunisia are classified as oil-gas-importers. Although Sudan is endowed with water, large fertile land and other natural resources, it lost its oil resources to the South after 2010 but continues to access rents from oil transportation through its territories. Prolonged conflict has turned Sudan into one of the poorest states in the world. Egypt is the largest NA country, with more than 75 million people in 2005, followed by Algeria whose population grew to 32 million in 2005. Taken together, NA makes more than 60 per cent of the Arab world. Events and attitudes in NA therefore, as has been seen since the Arab Spring, can be representative of the wider Arab world.