Year: 2018

In Tunisia, tourists back, but revenues do not follow

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More than six million tourists are coming to Tunisia this year, more than in 2014, before a series of devastating attacks: but if tourism rebounded, the economic benefits do not follow, between poor management, competition, and difficulty in repatriating foreign currency. The tourism revenues in euros increased by 28% year on year, from 1 January to 20 September, to eur 1 billion, for 6.2 million tourists, according to the tunisian government. This is more tourists than the whole of the year 2014 (6,07) but, at the same time, less than…

North Africa This Week: Startup Events Glimpses [1st-7th October, 2018]

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This past week saw the North African startup ecosystem play host to some events that can be thought to be aimed at furthering the growth of entrepreneurship and business in the region. The African tech startup ecosystem seems to be witnessing something of a renaissance as the number of tech-driven enterprises on the continent has grown considerably in the past few years. The North African region remains unrelenting in its contributions to the ecosystem as it has seen a remarkable proliferation of tech startups in several sectors, as well as…

Fuel spill feared as cargo ships collide off Corsica

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Two cargo ships have collided off the island of Corsica, with authorities fearing a catastrophic oil spill in the idyllic Mediterranean region. CARGO ship rammed into another freight vessel near the French Mediterranean island of Corsica early Sunday, causing no injuries but causing a leak which officials say is most likely fuel. The Ulysse, operated by the Tunisian operator CTN, struck the Cyprus-based CLS Virginia while it was anchored about 30 kilometres off the northern tip of the island at around 7:30 am, the regional naval authority said. According to…

Germany denies it plans to fly migrants back to Italy

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Germany on Sunday denied an Italian newspaper report that it planned to fly migrants back to Italy, after the allegation drew a threat from Italy’s Interior Minister to refuse landing permission to unauthorised planes carrying asylum seekers. La Repubblica reported on Saturday that Germany’s refugee agency had sent “dozens of letters” to migrants advising them of a planned transfer back to Italy, possibly via charter flights. The first such transfer is planned for Oct. 9, it said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Sunday Italy would close its airports to…

Tunis Stock Exchange, a new member of the World Federation of Exchanges

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The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has formalized the membership of the Tunis Stock Exchange as a full member, at its 58th Annual General Meeting held in Athens, on October 3rd, 2018. After Correspondent and Affiliate statuses, Membership status marks the completion of a long process and a on-site peer review carried out by a team comprised of Nasdaq, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Bermuda Stock Exchange representatives in February 2018, that led to a positive report to the Board of Directors of the WFE meeting in June 2018. This evaluation confirmed that…

Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad win Nobel Peace Prize for fight against sexual violence

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The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. Mukwege, a gynecologist and surgeon, has long worked to treat thousands of women and girls affected by rape and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nadia Murad, from ISIS sex slave to global human rights campaiger Murad is a Yazidi woman from the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, who was held as a sex slave by…

Tunisia ‘at a turning point’ stresses UN rights expert

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An independent UN human rights expert welcomed on Thursday the progress made towards democratic reform in Tunisia, since the 2011 revolution, and emphasized the importance of protecting freedom of peaceful assembly and association. “Tunisia is at a turning point in its post-revolution history,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule. His statement followed a 10-day visit during which new legislation on the issue was being discussed. “My meetings with various interlocutors allowed me to understand the stakes of the democratic transition,”…

“Night of researchers” held in Tunisia in cooperation with EU

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Tunisia celebrated scientific research, on September 28, 2018, through a major and original event, which was a result of a cooperation between Tunisia and the European Union. Two events were actually held in parallel at the same time: “Lila Jamila” in Tunisia and “EuResearchers’night” in Europe. The event is originally organised in more than 200 European cities under the name EU Researcher’s night. Tunisia obtained the Label to organise it after a rigorous evaluation of a project of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Thanks to the contributions…

Tunisia’s innovative “Tfanen” project: Workers tell their stories on stage

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Director Taher Alouane gathered over fifteen workers from factories in the industrial zone of Ben Arous for monitoring and integration by lending them a listening ear to their concerns, hopes and aspirations. These workshops, held in the regional Labour Union of Ben Arous, are dedicated to listening and expression which is the starting point for the establishment of a theatrical text and its transformation into a theatrical work presented by the workers and the workers of the various industrial zones are their audience. This work combines, according to artist Taher…

Tunisia Officially Enforces Its Startup Act

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The Tunisian Startup Act was implemented on Wednesday, and officially became law to be published in the official Gazette (JORT) of the Tunisian Republic. Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy, Anouar Maarouf, announced the official implementation at the Afric’Up summit. Earlier this year, in April, Tunisia had passed the ‘Startup Act’ after two years of deliberation. The Act promised a bundle of benefits including exemption of startups from corporate taxes for up to eight years, special customs procedures, exemption from capital gains tax on investments made in startups. It also offered up to one year…