Dr. Karim El Aynaoui is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He is also President of the Policy Center for the New South, previously known as OCP Policy Center, a think tank based in Rabat and serves as advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP Group, a global leader in the phosphate sector.

From 2005 to 2012, he worked at Bank Al-Maghrib, the Central Bank of Morocco. He was the Director of Economics and International Relations, where he provided strategic leadership in defining and supporting monetary policy analysis and strategy. He was in charge of the Statistical and International Relations Divisions of the Central Bank, led the research division and was a member of the Governor’s Cabinet.

Before joining Bank Al-Maghrib, Dr. El Aynaoui worked for eight years at the World Bank, both in its Middle Eastern and North Africa, and Africa regions as an economist. He has published papers, books and articles in scientific journals on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. Recently, he co-authored a book outlining a growth strategy for Morocco and was the guest editor of a special issue on food price volatility in Oxford Economic Papers.

Dr. El Aynaoui is also a board member of the OCP Foundation, a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and a member of the COP22 Scientific Committee. He additionally participates in the Malabo-Montpellier Panel. Dr. El Aynaoui holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux, where he taught, for three years, courses in statistics and economics.