Rania Al-Mashat on fragile trade flows

At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, former Egyptian Minister of Planning, Economic Development & International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat speaks with GZERO’s Tony Maciulis about a global economy increasingly shaped by geopolitical fragmentation and rising uncertainty.

She warns that while today’s shocks echo the Russia–Ukraine war, where exchange rate movements amplified the impact of higher fuel prices, the scale and structure of uncertainty are now deeper. “What is different this time is not just the price, but also the risk with the availability and ability of trade to move and products to move freely between countries,” she says. While the IMF is calling for greater coordination, she stresses that implementation will depend on multilateral cooperation in an increasingly fragmented world.

On global governance, she notes that emerging regional alliances are not a replacement for the multilateral system, but a complement: “There's urgent needs to be able to face crises which are happening more frequently and with different magnitudes.” From tourism pressures to investment flows, she warns that the longer instability persists, the greater the global economic fallout.

This conversation is presented by GZERO Media in partnership with Microsoft. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical conversations on the geopolitical forces reshaping our world.