Year: 2018

Tunisia’s real GDP growth rate could reach 2.8% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019

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Tunisia’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate could reach 2.8% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019. However, this upward trend “still remains weak,” said Assitan Diarra-Thououne, regional economist for Africa. from the North to the African Development Bank (AfDB), presenting Monday the report on the “Economic Outlook for Africa 2018”, dedicated to North Africa. “This achievement is conditional on an acceleration of structural reforms, a rise of the industrial apparatus to meet external demand and the mitigation of the cyclical nature of the growth of the agricultural sector,” the…

Tunisia aims to attract three million Algerian tourists

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The Tunisian authorities aspire to raise the number of Algerian tourists to 3 million, after last year’s record number of 2.5 million, the highest since the 2011 revolution. Tunisian Tourism Minister Selma Elloumi said that there have been “very positive” indicators since the beginning of the current year. In statements to Al-Chourouk, she explained that “We have to make sure that when the Algerian people come to Tunisia, we make them feel as if they were at home and not in a foreign country. There are several options for them. There…

Arab States build consensus on priorities for empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas ahead of CSW62

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Ahead of the 62nd UN Commission on the Status of Women, Governments of the Arab States region met to prepare a common position on the empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas. Participants stressed the need to ensure access to education, political participation and land ownership UN Women, in partnership with the League of Arab States and the Ministry of Women, Family and Children of Tunisia, convened the Arab region intergovernmental preparatory meeting ahead of the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62)…

Seeing the ‘political crisis’ behind Tunisia’s economic morass

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Despite abundant natural resources, Tunisia has recorded lower GDP growth, higher unemployment and increasing foreign debt since 2011. While Tunisia has overcome the threat posed by jihadists to its nascent democracy, it remains embroiled in economic and social crises because of the failure of political elites to harness the country’s potential, said the head of the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES), a think-tank affiliated with the Tunisian presidency. “Tunisia has defeated terrorism. The threat from jihadists is now behind us. Tunis is as safe as Paris or other European…

Tunisia targets 2 percent economic boost this year

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The Tunisian Prime Ministry released a report in which it underlined the country is seeking an economic growth of 2 percent within this year. The report explained Tunisia have settled  a 1.9 percent growth by the end of 2017, from 1 percent during the previous year. The inflation rate of the country was also confirmed to have reached a worse level in February, recording 7.1 percent from January’s 6.9 percent. The report noted that “this is mainly due to the steady pace of clothing-footwear prices and transport price, respective increasing by…

Hundreds rescued as smugglers restart Mediterranean trafficking

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International charity ships and Libya’s coastguard have picked up several hundred migrants after smugglers trying to take advantage of calm seas launched a flurry of boats towards Italy. Libyan coastguard vessels intercepted three migrant boats, the first an inflatable dinghy that had broken down with 125 people on board off Zawiya, just west of the capital, Tripoli, said Ayoub Qassem, a coastguard spokesman. The second boat was turned back off Garabulli, east of Tripoli, and had 112 people on board, while a third boat with 98 migrants on board was…

Tunisia sets ambition to reach 2 pct economic growth in 2018

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Tunisia has set an ambition to reach 2 percent economic growth in 2018, according to a report by the Tunisian Government Presidency on Friday. With a GDP‘s growth of 2 percent in the last quarter of 2017, Tunisia ended the past year with a growth of 1.9 percent against 1 percent in 2016, said the report. The North African country has set an ambitious target in 2018 to reach a 2 percent growth, based on the current economy performance. The Tunisian government said the inflation rate has worsened in February to…

Tunisian women march for equal inheritance rights

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Hundreds of women took to the streets in the Tunisian capital on Saturday to demand equal inheritance rights as men, a subject often seen as taboo in the Arab world. The North African Muslim country grants women more rights than other countries in the region, and since last year has allowed Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men. But the protestors marching to the parliament building in Tunis on Saturday said they wanted to be compared with European women and to be entitled to the same inheritance rights.  Joined by some…

International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on gender rights in the Arab world

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From Tunisia to Saudi Arabia, times are changing in the Arab world and women are gaining more and more rights. International Women’s Day, celebrated March 8, serves as an opportunity to hail advances in women’s rights and voice support for women around the world. This year, the observance drew attention to the Middle East and North Africa, where some of the most exciting reforms and positive developments have emerged. For the first time, Saudi Arabia was at the top of the list. Over the past year, the kingdom introduced landmark…

Three Arab women scientists to be honoured in the UNESCO-L’OrĂ©al awards in Paris

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the L’OrĂ©al Foundation have announced on Friday that they are preparing to honour several international female scientists in their 2018 For Women In Science and International Rising Talents awards programs. Fifteen female scientists, including three from Jordan, UAE and Tunisia, will be recognized in the International Rising Talents program, where as five will be selected for the For Women in Science program. Others to be awarded in the Rising Talents program hail from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North…