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Tunisia

People are seen out shopping in the old city of Tunis, Tunisia, 23 August 2023. Tunisia's Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts has officially restarted tourism in the country after the challenges caused by COVID-19 in 2020. Up to 10 August 2023, a total of 5.4 million tourists have picked Tunisia for their vacations (Photo by Yassine Mahjoub/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

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 […]

A worker at a phosphate production plant in Metlaoui, Tunisia. Phosphate accounts for 15% of Tunisia's exports

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 […]

Tunisian President Kais Saied has refused the terms of an IMF loan, raising doubts about the country's debt repayments

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 […]

A Tunisian farmer picks red peppers on her farm in Nabeul. The country will pay $4 billion of foreign debts in 2024

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 […]

Bader Al-Kharafi and Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo

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 […]

Phosphate mining in Morocco

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 […]

A woman collects water from a well in Tunis. Tunisia is having to operate a quota system for tap water

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 […]

Tunisia market

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 […]

An IMF mission plans to visit Tunisia to assess economic developments, said IMF Middle East and Central Asia director Jihad Azour

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 […]

Drought in Tunisia is a hurdle recognised by the World Bank

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 […]

Amea Power Tunisia

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 […]

A woman shops at a fruit and vegetable market in Tunis. In June Tunisia was given a rating of CCC-, which is seven levels below investment grade

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 […]

Tunisian President Kais Saied meets with Saudi minister of finance Mohammed al Jadaan.

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 […]

The Mdhilla phosphate production plant in Tunisia. The industry contributes 4% of Tunisia's GDP

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 […]

A Bako electric car in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia. Clean transport is one of the many sectors that can benefit from HSBC's $1bn fund

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 […]

Tunisia President Kais Saied

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 […]

An olive harvester at work in Gafsa, Tunisia. Exports to the EU are expected to increase this year

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 […]

Tunisia market

Saudi Arabia to give Tunisia $500m as soft loan and grant

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Tunisia with a $500 million package of financial assistance as the country faces a mounting financial crisis. The Gulf state will give the North African country $400 million as a soft loan and $100 million as a grant, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday. The agreement was signed […]

Tunisair headquarters

Tunisair’s turbulence a ‘toxic mix of circumstances’

Tunisia’s national carrier Tunisair is facing a “toxic mix of circumstances” as it battles for survival, according to a leading aviation expert. The North African country’s president Kaïs Saïed, minister of transport Rabii Mejidi, and Tunisair’s CEO Khaled Chelli met recently to discuss a rescue plan for the airline, which is seeking a restructure to […]

Emirates' latest deal with a Tunisian sports club grows its global portfolio in football

Sponsorship deal grows Emirates’ presence in Africa

Emirates airline is to sponsor a Tunisian sports club, as the Dubai carrier looks to increase its revenues in Africa. The airline will sponsor Etoile Sportive du Sahel, which has teams across a number of sports including football, basketball, volleyball and handball.  Emirates’ branding will be on the teams’ jerseys and training kits, as well […]