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Gaëlle BALINEAU
Country Risk Economist, Research Officer
Researcher
Expertise : Industrial economics, value chains, quality economics, country risk, East Africa, European Neighbourhood
Languages : English, French
Country and region : Rwanda, Niger, Africa, Colombia, Kenya, Moldova, Eurasia and Beyond
Theme : Agriculture and Rural Development, Governance, Infrastructure, Mobility and transport, Financial Systems
Gaëlle Balineau is an economist specialising in East Africa and the European Neighbourhood. As a country risk analyst, she also conducts research on value chains and market regulation.
Gaëlle Balineau is an economist within the team responsible for assessing country risk across AFD’s countries of operation. Specialising in East Africa and the European Neighbourhood, she focuses in particular on Rwanda, Kenya and Moldova, while also covering Niger and Colombia. With a background in academic research, Gaëlle also conducts research on public policies that support the upgrading of low-income countries within global value chains. More broadly, her research interests lie at the intersection of industrial economics and development economics.
Gaëlle Balineau holds a PhD in Development Economics and conducted part of her doctoral research in Mali. Before joining AFD, she worked for the World Bank, Barry Callebaut and the International Trade Centre in Cameroon, Lesotho and Côte d’Ivoire. She joined AFD in 2014 and moved to the Group’s Regional Office in Nairobi in 2019, where she served as Economist for East Africa and was responsible for activities in Sudan. She is also head of the AFD–Toulouse School of Economics research partnership and coordinator of the Development Methodologies Chair.
Articles
- « Engel Curves for Fair Trade Consumption and Development Perspectives for Producers: Evidence from Data on Real Fairtrade Purchases », The Journal of Development Studies, 55:5, 894-916 (2019).
- « Disentangling the Effects of Fair Trade on the Quality of Malian Cotton », World Development, 44, 241-255 (2013).
- « Removing barriers to trade on environmental goods: an appraisal », with J. De Melo, The World Trade Review, 12 (4), 693-718 (2013).
- « The Fairtrade System: A Guarantee for Consumers?», with I. Dufeu, Mondes en Développement, 4 (160), 11-26 (2012).
- « Le renforcement des organisations de producteurs de coton au Mali : enjeux, impact et leçons du commerce équitable pour la privatisation de la filière », Canadian Journal of Development Studies », 32 (3), 297-312 (2011).
- « Are Fair Trade goods credence goods? A new proposal, with French illustrations », with I. Dufeu, Journal of Business Ethics, 92 (suppl. 2), 331-345 (2010).
Ouvrages et rapports techniques
- « Food Systems in Africa: Rethinking the Role of Markets », with Bauer, A. ; Kessler, M. ; Madariaga, N., Africa Development Forum (2021) — see also the associated conference at the World Bank's Africa Knowledge Festival.
- « Building competitive and resilient pharmaceutical value chains through the African Continental Free Trade Area », UNECA & AFD (2021).
- « Manufacturing Competitiveness in Ethiopia: Developments, Challenges and Prospects », with Getahun, T., Kebedew, G. and Fikru, S., Addis-Abeba, Ethiopian Development Research Institute, Research Report 32 (2018).
- « Fairtrade International and the European market », Doherty, B., Bezençon, V., chapter 18 in Raynolds, L. T., & Bennett, E. A. (dir.), Handbook of Research on Fair Trade, Edward Elgar Publishing (2015).
- « Exploiting Trade in Environmental Goods for the Pursuit of Green Growth: Recent Developments and Implications for South Africa », with I. Gillson, background paper for South Africa Economic Update, Focus on Green Growth, World Bank, Washington, D.C. (2011).
- « Tariff Reductions in Environmental Goods at the Doha Round: The State of Play », with J. De Melo, background paper for Brenton, P., Cadot, O., & Pierola, M.D., « Pathways to African Export Sustainability », World Bank, Washington, D.C. (2011).
- « Guerre en Iran. La solidité du Kenya de nouveau à l'épreuve », The Conversation France, May 14, 2026.
- « Crise alimentaire : cinq pistes pour fluidifier les approvisionnements en Afrique », avec Nicole Madariaga,The Conversation France, June 14, 2020.
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« Éthiopie. La politique industrielle en question », with Girum Abebe, Mulu Gebreeyesus and Tigabu Degu Getahun, The Conversation France, October 03, 2017.
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« The stalemate at the negotiations on environmental goods: Can it be broken? », with J. De Melo, VOX EU column, May 2013. Also available as a FERDI Policy Brief.
- « Fair Trade: from aid, to trade… to aid-for-trade? The Malian example », ICTSD Bridges Africa Brief, May 2012. Also available as a FERDI Policy Brief.