Finance EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […] April 26, 2024
Renewable Energy Tunisia-Italy power project gets $285m investment The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) has revealed plans to invest about €266 million ($285 million) to complete the Tunisian-Italian Elmed Interconnector Project, a 220km power line connecting the two countries. The investment will fund the Tunisian side of the project, which includes laying a 100km submarine power cable worth €125 million and the […] April 26, 2024
Agriculture Tunisia secures $520m in loans to attack food crisis The World Bank has approved loans worth $520 million to address Tunisia’s food security challenge, but experts are calling for the government to devise a new long-term policy. A loan of $300 million will supplement the Emergency Food Security Response Project, which aims to minimise the impact of four consecutive years of drought in Tunisia, […] March 22, 2024
Economy EU throws Tunisia a financial lifeline with $163m grant The European Union has handed Tunisia a €150 million ($163 million) grant to support economic reforms and fiscal stability as the North African country attempts to fend off a financial crisis. Almost $4 billion in external debts are due for repayment this year, up 40 percent on 2023. Although Tunisia managed to pay an €850 […] March 5, 2024
Transport Saudi Arabia loans $55m for Tunisian rail renewal Saudi Arabia has signed a $55 million loan deal with Tunisia to finance the renewal of the North African country’s rail network. The railway is used to transport phosphate, a sector that makes up around 4 percent of Tunisia’s GDP and 15 percent of the country’s exports. Tunisia plans to produce eight million tonnes by […] February 23, 2024
Economy Tunisia debt repayment reaching ‘crunch point’ Just days after Tunisia announced it had cleared its debts from 2023, an expert is warning the country remains at real risk of a sovereign default, with extensive repayments due to creditors over the next two years. Finance minister Sihem Nemsia revealed earlier this week that the North African country had settled all domestic and […] January 26, 2024
Economy Tunisia pays off all 2023 debt Tunisia has repaid all of its 2023 domestic and external debts despite constraints on public finance and difficulties in accessing foreign funding, according to finance minister Sihem Nemsia. It had been feared that the North African country was headed towards a default on its debt repayments. Speaking at the opening of a debate on the […] January 23, 2024
Infrastructure Gulf telcos sign deal to create $2bn tower company Telecom operators Ooredoo and Zain Group on Tuesday said agreements have been signed to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa. The cash and share deal, which also involves Dubai-based Tasc Towers Holding, will establish a company comprising 30,000 telecom towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia, with […] December 5, 2023
Analysis Industry Future is rosy for Mena phosphate producers With Morocco and Saudi Arabia now holding the bulk of the world’s high-quality, accessible phosphate rock reserves, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is a major centre for the phosphate mining industry’s future growth, analysts say. Morocco alone holds around 70 percent of the world’s total reserves of phosphate rock, the raw material […] November 17, 2023
Sustainability Droughts could cost Tunisia $1bn annually Water shortages in Tunisia could cost the North African country up to $1.3 billion annually by 2030, according to a report from the World Bank. For the sixth year in a row, below-average rainfall impacted the country’s agricultural production. The sector’s value fell 9 percent in real terms in the first half of this year […] November 7, 2023
Finance Tunisia to maintain fuel and food subsidies in 2024 Tunisia expects its economy to grow by 2.1 percent in 2024, up from 0.9 percent in 2023, and plans almost the same subsidies for fuel, electricity and food while raising taxes for banks, hotels and liquor firms, a bill on its budget showed on Tuesday. The bill included no reference to an agreement with the […] October 18, 2023
Opinion Sustainability Lessons for Cop28 from Tunisia’s water crisis The Arab region is home to the majority of economies that will face absolute water scarcity by 2040 October 17, 2023
Economy Tunisia yet to propose new terms for $1.9bn IMF loan Tunisia has not yet proposed new terms for a long-pending $1.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, according to the fund’s Middle East and Central Asia director Jihad Azour. Speaking at IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Morocco this week, Azour called for the elimination of “wasteful and socially unfair subsidies” before the fund’s board could […] October 13, 2023
Economy World Bank drops growth forecast for Tunisia further Tunisia’s economic growth forecast has been downgraded further by the World Bank amid concerns over the drought-hit agricultural sector, as well as uncertainties over debt financing and the weak momentum of structural reforms. In its report, Balancing act: Jobs and wages in the Middle East and North Africa when crises hit, the World Bank noted […] October 6, 2023
Energy Dubai’s Amea Power brightens Tunisia’s solar ambitions Dubai’s Amea Power has reached financial close on its first 120 megawatt (MW) solar project in Tunisia as the North African country seeks to boost its renewable energy production. The $86 million solar plant will be located in Metbassta, in the north-western Kairouan governate. It is being built by Kairouan Solar Plant, a company registered in […] September 27, 2023
Economy Tunisia repays 74% of debt to ease default fears Tunisia has repaid 74 percent of its cumulative external debt due this year, defying predictions that the country is heading towards a default. As of September 10, the amount of debt repaid was TND6.6 billion ($2 billion), compared with TND8.9 billion forecast for the year in the 2023 budget, as reported by Agence Tunis Afrique […] September 18, 2023
Economy Tunisia teeters on the edge over mounting debt Saddled with mounting levels of debt and dwindling foreign reserves, Tunisia is intensifying concerns over its deteriorating public finances. Bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund have stalled since last October when a preliminary agreement for a 48-month loan worth close to $2 billion was reached. Tunisian president Kais Saied’s government refused to accept the […] September 8, 2023
Opinion Economy Tangled web leaves Tunisia’s IMF deal hanging in balance For President Saied, the lifting of subsidies appears to be a red line August 29, 2023
Manufacturing Tunisia to scale up phosphate production Tunisia’s state-owned phosphate company is getting ready to ramp up production as part of its TD235 million ($76 million) investment programme. Next month the Gafsa Phosphate Company (CPG) will receive the first batch of machinery, including equipment to increase its capacity to transport raw phosphate and extract commercial phosphate. It will also take delivery of […] August 28, 2023
Energy Tunisia’s energy production drops as trade deficit widens Total energy production in Tunisia dropped by 8 percent at the end of June to 8,470 gigawatt hours as the country’s energy trade deficit increased. Production intended for the local market was also down 5 percent, according to a report released by the National Observatory of Energy and Mines. Electricity purchases from Algeria and Libya […] August 15, 2023
Agriculture Tunisia approves $87m loan to safeguard food supplies Tunisia has approved a TND268 million ($87 million) loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to safeguard sustainable food production in the country. The Assembly of People’s Representatives (APR) gave the loan the green light. It will be used to fund the Cereal Sector Inclusive and Sustainable Support Project (Padific), a body aimed at improving […] August 1, 2023
Analysis Food & Drink North Africa to the rescue as Europe’s olive oil dries up A caesar salad may be the ideal light meal on a summer’s day, but you might have noticed it is weighing heavier on your wallet. That is because the price of olive oil is at an all-time high. Prices have jumped by nearly 80 percent in just one year, according to data from YCharts. European […] July 28, 2023
