Tuesday | 03 Dec 2024

Fathallah Sijilmassi appointed First Director General of African Union Commission

The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA would like to warmly congratulate H.E. Fathallah Sijilmassi, member of the EMEA and EMNES Advisory Boards, for his appointment to the position of Director General of African Union Commission. This new position, created at the end of the 11th Extraordinary Summit of AU Heads of State and Government in November 2018, is part of the structural reform of the AU Commission.

Fathallah Sijilmassi accedes to the highest non-elective position in the hierarchy of the African Union Commission. He will, inter alia, be responsible for leading the cross-cutting governance of the structures of the AU Commission (AUC) and ensuring operational coordination between the various departments of the AUC and with member States as well as optimal performance of the pan-African technostructure.

Fathallah Sijilmassi is an economist and a career diplomat. He was Ambassador to the EU (2003-2004) and to France (2005-2009). He then led the Moroccan Agency for International Investments (2009-2012). He was Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean from 2012 to 2018. He is currently the CEO and founder of Positive Agenda Advisory. He is an officer of the Légion d´honneur and grand officer in the Ordre National du Mérite of the Republic of France as well as Encomienda de Numero in the Order of Isabel la Catollica (Spain).

In 2019, the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA and the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies – EMNES, in cooperation with the  Centre for European Policy Studies – CEPS, published Fathallah Sijilmassi’s book “L’avenir de l’ Europe est au Sud” (The future of Europe is in the South), which examines the challenges, as well as the numerous opportunities and full potential of EU – South Mediterranean cooperation.

Link to Bio

Publications:

  1. L’avenir de l’ Europe est au Sud
  2. Reshaping EU Policies Towards the Eu-Africa Partnership in the ‘New Normal’ Era of the Post Covid-19 World
  3. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: The Relevance of a Nexus Approach in the Euro-Mediterranean and African Region