Year: 2018

Tunisia annual inflation rate stands at 7.7 % in May 2018

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Tunisia’s annual inflation held steady in May at 7.7 percent year-on-year, official data showed on Thursday. Inflation accelerated from 6.9 percent in January to 7.7 percent in April, its highest level since 1991. The central bank raised its key interest rate to 5.75 percent in March from 5.0 percent to tackle inflation. Prices of free products (non-administered) edged up 8.5% against 5.0% for administered products. Free food products rose by 10.6% against 2.4% for administered products. In May 2018, food prices rose by 9.3% year-on-year (8.9% in April), following the…

Tunisia to ban all plastic bags from 2020

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There will be no production, importation, selling or distribution of non-biodegradable plastic bags in Tunisia from December 31, 2019. The announcement was made on World Environment Day by Minister for the Environment and Local Affairs Riadh Mouakher. Tunisia is thus continuing its fight against plastic bags that it launched in December 2015, but began having an effect in March 2017 with a ban on non-biodegradable sacks in supermarkets and in pharmacies starting on March 1 of this year. Producers’ figures show that the use of plastic bags in supermarkets –…

Tunisia seeking to close renewable energy gap

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As recently as May, 2018, the Tunisian authorities issued a call to tender for the construction of several solar power plants. Tunisia has fixed itself ambitious objectives in matters of energy mix but, for now, the results are meagre. On 15th May, 2018, Tunisia announced pre-qualification for two international calls to tender for the construction of five solar photovoltaic power plants (500MW) and three wind farms (500MW) on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, representing an estimated total investment of €1bn. Less than a week before, the government had given the go-ahead to…

Tunisia Truth Commission Brings One Court Case in Four Years

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A commission that has been working for four years to deliver justice to victims of Tunisia’s decades-long dictatorship has brought one case to court, which began last week with a single hearing. And the commission’s four-year mandate expired on May 31, although the government granted it an extension until the end of the year to wrap up its work. Parliament had the option in March to prolong the Truth and Dignity Commission’s mandate for another year, but voted against it. The commission’s president, Sihem Bensedrine, said in a recent interview…

Tunisians target knockout stage

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Tunisia are aiming to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time in their history when they head to Russia, defender Yohan Benalouane has said.The African nation recorded their first victory in the World Cup finals when they beat Mexico in 1978 but have not won at the tournament since. Having qualified for the finals for the first time since 2006, Tunisia face a tough test in Russia, where they compete against England, Belgium and Panama in Group G. “The first objective is to get through…

Researchers See Water at Root of Tunisia’s Inequality Problem

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BÉJA GOVERNORATE, Tunisia—A couple of hours drive inland from the cosmopolitan capital of Tunis sits Medjez El Bab, a provincial town that has relied on income from agriculture since Roman times. The surrounding hills are still packed with fields of wheat and other crops like watermelon, but times are getting harder for the region’s farmers, and poor water management is to blame, says Hatem Jemmali, a social economist at Manouba University who studies inequality and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. The summer months are getting hotter in…

IOM Very Concerned After Tragic Sinking of Migrant Boat Off Tunisian Coast

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Sixty-eight survivors, at least one hundred dead and missing migrants off Kerkennah-Sfax, Tunisia – this is the provisional report of the night of Saturday to Sunday, 3 June, when some 180 migrants undertook an uncertain crossing to European coasts on a fragile and overloaded craft. According to Lorena Lando, IOM Chief of Mission in Tunisia, among the 60 victims transferred to the forensic department at Habib Bourguiba hospital in Sfax, 48 are Tunisians, of whom 24 have already been identified, while 12 are non-Tunisian (6 women and 6 men); their…

Tunisia strengthens security forces on islands after migrant boat sank

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Prime Minister Youssef announced Tuesday the strengthening of security forces on the Kerkennah Islands off Tunisia’s southeastern coast after a migrant boat sank and 58 died. Interior Ministry Spokesman Khalifa Chibani said Tunisian security forces intercepted eight individuals involved in planning this illegal transporting of migrants. “Merchants, who manipulate our youth, must be prosecuted to pay their responsibility,” added Chahed. Kerkennah is known as one of the main illegal gateways to Europe from Tunisia. Since the beginning of this year, about 1,910 Tunisian migrants have reached Italy by sea, according…

Tunisia expected to receive 8 mln visitors in 2018

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Tunisia is expected to receive 8 million tourists in 2018, said President of Tunisian Association of Travel Agents (FTAV) Jaber Ben Atouch on Monday. According to Atouch, the prediction is based on indicators such as reservation rate and return of European tourists. “This successful summer season started since April, with the confirmation of 650,000 French tourists, an increase of 200 percent compared with the same period of last year,” said Atouch. Tunisia is also prepared to welcome more than 900,000 Russian tourists, “a rising market for Tunisia since 2011,” assured…

Tunisia Slams Italian Vice PM for Remark It Sends ‘Convicts’ to EU

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Amid a rising wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in Italy and as hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from North Africa and the Middle East have landed in the country in recent years, controversial comments about migrants made by Italy’s new Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini have prompted strong criticism from Tunisia. During a local campaign stop in Sicily on Monday, Salvini, who is also a deputy prime minister in the new coalition government sworn in on Friday, said that even though Tunisia was a free and democratic country without “wars, epidemics, famines or pestilence,”…