Year: 2018

Tunisia’s annual inflation rate falls in September to 7.4 pct

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Tunisia’s annual inflation rate in September fell to 7.4 percent from 7.5 percent in August, a government official told Reuters on Wednesday. Tunisia’s inflation rate stabilised at 7.5 percent in August, unchanged from July, after hitting 7.8 percent in June, the highest seen since 1990.  The central bank expects a rate of 7.8 percent this year and 7 percent next year. In June, the central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 6.75 percent, its second hike in three months, to tackle inflation. The International Monetary…

Swiss-Tunisian migration accords bearing fruit, says minister

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Migration accords signed between Tunisia and Switzerland in 2012 are bearing fruit, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui has told swissinfo.ch. “To stop the flood of illegal immigrants, our two countries set up a programme of cooperation focusing mainly on support for voluntary return [of asylum seekers] and on professional training for young Tunisians in their own country,” he said. “According to our statistics, more than 1,600 Tunisian asylum seekers have returned home thanks to this support.” Asked how many people had benefited from the training programme, Jhinaoui said “frankly not…

Phosphate production down by 25% this year in Tunisia

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The phosphate production decreased by 25 % in the first nine months this year to 2.6 million tonnes compared with the same period last year, the Phosphate Gafsa said on Wednesday. Phosphate exports are a key source of foreign currency reserves, which have dropped to levels worth just 77 days of imports, according to Tunisia’s central bank. Weak phosphate output in the first nine months due to protests will complicate the government’s plan to reach 6 million tonnes of production by the end of this year. In 2017, output was…

Morocco’s foreign minister rejects EU’s migrant centers

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Morocco’s foreign minister said his country should play a greater role in EU decisions on migration in a newspaper interview. Nasser Bourita said Morocco was opposed to the migrant centers that the EU has suggested. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said he rejects the European Union’s plan to build asylum centres in North Africa, according to an interview with German national daily Die Welt. The EU wants to reach migration deals with Middle East and northern African countries, such as Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, similar to the one it has with…

First edition of Afric’Up opens works in Tunis

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Works of the 1st edition of Afric’Up: Start-up Africa Summit opened on Tuesday in Tunis, with attendance of some 80 African and international speakers (CEO, investors, mentors, experts, confirmed start-ups) as well as 112 African and international start-ups to expose their solutions and innovations on the sidelines of the event. Over 20 African countries and over 1,000 participants including 250 foreigners are taking part in this two-day event, with a view to promoting innovation, creativity and new digital economies. Organiser Skander Haddar said that “the event seeks to promote Tunisia…

Delegation of Saudi Royal Air Force arrives in Tunis

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A delegation of the Saudi Royal Air Force (RAF) arrived in Tunis on Monday to take part in the Saudi-Tunisian manoeuvres as part of the exchange of experiences between the two sides. The members of the delegation were seen in by the military attaché of Saudi Embassy to Tunisia, Brigadier General Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Sahyan who said that these exercises aim at sharing experiences with the Tunisian Air Force. The joint exercises, the first of their kind with Tunisian air forces, will last for two weeks and will lead to…

Salvini in Tunis: Economic aid in exchange for tougher border controls, but deadlock on repatriations

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Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has travelled to Tunis to meet with local authorities and talk about immigration. Salvini called the visit “fruitful,” although Rome did not obtain the increase in repatriations it had hoped for. Italian government officials were hoping to achieve an increase in the number of repatriated migrants – currently 80 per week – during a visit to Tunisia. Instead, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has so far only obtained Tunisia’s pledge to boost bilateral agreements with Italy. This includes a deal that Italy will provide economic…

Tunisia wins cous cous world championship

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Tunisia won the Cous Cous world championship, a competition between 10 countries organized during the Couscoust Fest in San Vito Lo Capo  in Sicily, Italy that ended on Sunday. The recipe presented by Nabil Barkous, who works at the restaurant Joia of chef Pietro Leemann, with the help of chefs Youssef Abdelli and Lamjed Hosni, was the most appreciated by the technical jury among those of the nine other competing nations: Angola, Ivory Coast,  Italy, Morocco, Senegal, Spain and the United States. The jury of experts, chaired by Fiammetta Fadda,…

Kaddour Ayari, a patriot who believes in his country’s potentials

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Political activist and president of the Tunisian Association “Tahia Tounes” Kaddour Ayari commended the Tunisian potential and the deep experience of Tunisians in all fields, namely political, social, cultural and scientific. The U.S. citizens are not smarter than the Tunisian people, but the difference is their devotion and sincere love to their homeland, he said in an interview with TunisianMonitorOnline Kaddour Ayari who had been in the Tunisian Army as an officer was forced to leave the country earlier before the Tunisian Revolution in 2000. He went to the United…

Saudi Arabia pillar of peace and stability

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making its way, amid international storms, firmly and with confidence making it clear that the decades ahead, until 2030, will be the decades of launching a new reality and an ambitious future planned tightly by the Saudi leadership for further stability and prosperity for the Saudi people. This is the vision that re-launched the dreams in the era of the fall of economies and the era of the miserable citizen and the broken homelands. The Saudi citizen realizes before any others that his country…