ERF 32nd Annual Conference: Harnessing Private Enterprise for MENA Regional Transformation
FromMar 29, 2026 To Mar 31, 2026
Hybrid Event
The MENA region stands at a critical juncture. Amid persistent structural challenges: youth unemployment, macroeconomic volatility and institutional fragility, there is growing recognition that private enterprise must take center stage in charting a path toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development. ERF 32nd Annual Conference seeks to convene a high-level dialogue that places private sector–led growth at the heart of the region’s economic transformation agenda.
While public sectors in MENA have historically played a dominant role in employment and economic activity, this model is increasingly unsustainable. Fiscal pressures, rising debt, and constrained public investment space demand a recalibration of the state’s economic role, from market actor to market enabler. The private sector, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), high-growth firms, and digital entrepreneurs, must now serve as the engine of productivity, job creation, and innovation.
Yet despite its potential, the private sector in MENA remains underleveraged and unevenly developed. Barriers to entry and growth persist, including limited access to finance, burdensome regulatory environments and weak competition frameworks. Moreover, informal enterprises and fragmented value chains hinder productivity and resilience. Unlocking the full potential of private enterprise requires a systemic and coordinated response, combining structural reforms with targeted interventions to crowd in private investment and foster dynamic, inclusive markets.
Conference Focus
The ERF 32nd Annual Conference aims to explore key dimensions of private sector–led transformation in MENA:
- The enabling environment: legal, institutional, and financial reforms needed to foster fair competition, investment, and entrepreneurship.
- Productivity and innovation: how firms adopt new technologies, upskill labor, and engage in global value chains.
- Green and digital transitions: the role of private enterprise in climate adaptation, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure.
- Social inclusion and employment: strategies to expand formal employment, empower youth and women, and reduce spatial inequalities.
- Public-private partnerships: innovative financing and risk-sharing models for infrastructure, services, and economic zones.
The conference will also assess lessons learned from global and regional experiences, highlight evidence-based policy recommendations, and facilitate multistakeholder dialogue among researchers, policymakers, private sector leaders, and development partners.
A Regional Platform for Policy and Research Dialogue
The ERF 32nd Annual Conference will bring together over 120 scholars, senior policymakers, business leaders, and development practitioners to share evidence, debate strategies, and co-create pathways forward. With its unique convening power and commitment to rigorous, policy-relevant research, ERF will facilitate informed dialogue grounded in both regional realities and global frameworks.
Through this dialogue, ERF aims to catalyze a shift from analysis to action, to rethink the state’s economic role, foster private sector resilience, and reimagine public-private collaboration for the long term.
The conference will feature three main plenary sessions:
Plenary 1: From Constraints to Catalysts: Reimagining the Role of the Private Sector in MENA’s Growth Model
This session will explore the structural barriers holding back private enterprise in MENA and how countries can shift toward a model where the private sector becomes the main driver of economic transformation.
Plenary 2: Green, Digital, and Inclusive: Charting New Frontiers for Private Sector–Led Transformation
This session will focus on how the private sector can lead MENA’s transition to a sustainable, tech-driven, and inclusive economy. It will highlight opportunities in renewable energy, digital infrastructure, climate-smart MSMEs, and inclusive value chains and the role of public-private coordination to de-risk and enable these shifts.
Plenary 3: Rebuilding Confidence, Reimagining Growth: The Private Sector’s Role in Lebanon’s Future
This session will explore how the private sector can be mobilized as a force for economic renewal, job creation, and institutional reform amid prolonged crises and systemic challenges.
Preliminary list of key questions to be addressed in plenary sessions to spark evidence-informed discussion, identify actionable reforms, and surface regional insights:
- How can the MENA region move from a state-led to a market-enabling model of development?
- What institutional and regulatory reforms are needed to unlock private sector dynamism, especially for MSMEs?
- How can we scale digital and green innovation while addressing market failures and coordination challenges?
- What policy tools are most effective to crowd in private investment in a fiscally constrained environment?
- How can the private sector drive inclusive growth: reducing youth unemployment, gender gaps, and spatial inequalities?
- What lessons can MENA countries draw from regional peers and emerging economies that have successfully scaled private enterprise-led development?
- How can public-private dialogue be institutionalized to build trust, transparency, and reform momentum?