Year: 2017

Tunis conference on Med migration, ‘Reality and Challenges’

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A three-day conference with debates in Tunis on September 22-24 will seek to inform the public on the situation in southern Mediterranean countries heavily affected by migration. Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt will all be discussed, as countries of departure, transit and destination. The legal position of migrants of refugees in these countries will also be discussed and stock will be taken of the agreements signed with some of them, to assess the consequences as well as share experiences and opinions. The conference, entitled ‘Migratory Movements Around the Mediterranean,…

Tunisia: great opportunities lost in Africa

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We had a bank in Senegal. We sold it to Morocco, which later took over the former “Banque du Sud” after buying STB Senegal. The same bank had already sold its holdings, acquired in the days of Bourguiba the visionary, in Mauritania, Mali and Guinea. The Tunisian financial landscape, although fairly well ranked (the BIAT was in the Top 10 ranking of the best banks in Africa, made in 2015 by African Banker), thus disappears from Africa. There are many lost opportunities… The last two attempts to return there are…

Tunisia’s oil production down due to protests, claims trade union official

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A Tunisian trade union official confirmed on Wednesday that crude oil production in the country has fallen by 52 per cent recently due to protests in the areas where the oil fields are located. Hasnaoui Smiri, the Secretary General of the Federation of Petrochemicals at the Tunisian General Labour Union — the largest union in Tunisia — said that production has gone down to 22,000 barrels per day, from 46,000 barrels during the first five months of this year. In an interview with Anadolu at the end of a trade union event…

Tunisia’s heritage sites stay empty, even as tourism picks up

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Foreign visitors may now be returning to the country after the Arab Spring and ISIL-claimed attacks, but many say the government is failing to make the most of the country’s history  Bulla Regia in north-west Tunisia is one of the country’s most important archaeological sites.Famous for its partially underground Roman houses, designed to protect their inhabitants from the heat, the ruins are also home to remarkably well-preserved Roman mosaics. Yet on the day Salah Massai and his wife, Jessica, visit Bulla Regia, they are the only people there. “If this site was in Greece,…

Tunisia’s currency reserves recover slightly with World Bank loan

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Tunisia’s foreign currency reserves have risen slightly to 13.22 billion dinars, benefiting from the World Bank’s disbursement of a $500 million loan, a week after they fell to lows not reached for nearly three decades. Last week, reserves had fallen to 11.59 billion dinars ($4.76 billion), enough for just 90 days of imports, which officials and experts said was the weakest level since 1986. But according to figures posted on the central bank’s website late on Wednesday, the reserve has now recovered to 13.22 billion dinars ($5.43 billion), equal to…

Ecommerce in the Middle East: Small but Promising Market

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The Middle East, long a laggard when it comes to online shopping, caught the attention of the industry earlier this year when Amazon purchased Souq, a local online marketplace. New local ecommerce sites are also coming online. Middle East countries have some of the highest levels of per capita income but the area is an underpenetrated ecommerce market. Digital commerce accounted for less than one percent of the region’s gross domestic product in 2016, according to research firm Gartner Inc. “Today only 15 percent of the businesses in the region have an…

Britain gives Libya more than £9m to fight terrorism and people trafficking

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Boris Johnson unveiled the aid package during a visit to the north African country following talks with Prime Minister Fayez al Serraj. Britain has also offered to increase its engagement with the country’s law enforcement authorities, including the coast guard, which already receives Royal Navy training on dealing with migrants who try to cross the Mediterranean in an attempt to get to Europe. Libya will also be given £4m to support the removal of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), particularly in the city of Sirte, a former stronghold of…

Tunisia’s economic challenges: are they insurmountable?

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While the Tunisian government is drafting the country’s next budget, Fadhel Abdelkefi, its interim Finance Minister, who heads up the ministry of investment and international cooperation resigned (August 18, 2017) due to an ongoing conflict with the Tunisian customs service.  The very same day, however, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tunisia’s long-term rating from Ba3 to B1, and maintained its negative outlook. Moody’s also downgraded other areas of the Tunisian economy, including the Central Bank’s foreign currency debt rating. These blows to the Tunisian economy are taking place amid a crisis…

Laptop ban lifted on Tunisia flights

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The UK government has lifted the laptop ban on inbound flights from Tunis’ Carthage International airport. Tunis airport becomes the second airport after Turkey’s Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen to have the ban on larger mobile devices, including laptops and tablets, completely lifted on all inbound flights to the UK. Although some individual airlines flying from other affected airports have also had the laptop ban lifted on their flights to the UK. The British government said it had been working with airlines to “introduce tough additional security measures” over the last few months. It…

Tunisia’s tourism revenues up 19 pct this year as more Europeans return

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Tunisia’s tourism revenues have risen 19 percent so far this year, reflecting a recovery in a vital sector crippled two years ago by attacks on foreign holidaymakers. Tourism Minister Salma Loumi said 4.58 million foreign tourists visited the North African country between Jan. 1 and Aug. 10. Arrivals from neighbouring Algeria were up 60 percent, helped by a promotional campaign by Tunisia, while visits by European tourists rose 16 percent. “There are good indicators, revenues rose by 19 percent to 1.5 billion Tunisian dinars ($613 million)”, Loumi told reporters on…