While countries in East and North Africa (MENA) over the past forty years have maintained high levels of income per capita, they have performed poorly when going beyond the assessment based on standard income level measures. Resource rich countries in MENA have experienced relatively low and non inclusive economic growth as well as high levels of macroeconomic volatility. Important improvements in health and education have taken place but the quality of the provision of public goods and services remains important source of concerns. Looking forwards we argues that the success of economic reforms in MENA rests on the ability of those countries to invest boldly in building inclusive institutions as well and high levels of human capacity in public administrations