I am Anissa Bougrea, a PhD researcher in International and European Studies at Ghent University funded by FWO (2021-2025).
My PhD thesis project is entitled ‘The New European Financial Architecture for Development: Financialization of EU Aid?’ and is supervised by Professor Jan Orbie and co-supervised by Professor Mattias Vermeiren, both at Ghent University.
My focus lies on the financialization of the European Union’s development aid to sub-Saharan-Africa within the reformed European Financial Architecture for Development, a policy domain that is becoming increasingly geopoliticized. By examining these reforms and their implications, I hope to shed light on the role of private capital in shaping EU development policy.
My work attempts to challenge conventional narratives surrounding the European Union’s role as a development actor in world politics, through critical, anti-Eurocentric and decolonial lenses, striving to amplify marginalized voices and perspectives.