Fita 2023 opens in Tunis: rebuilding bridges and strengthening exchanges

The 6th edition of the African Trade and Investment Finance Forum (Fita) started on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, in Tunis, at the initiative of the Tunisia-Africa Business Council (TABC). The two-day event, organized under the theme: “Africa in the midst of the global crisis and the role of the private sector in sustainable and inclusive economic transformation”, aims to “get across the message that Tunisia is not a racist country and that all Africans are welcome here under the law”, declared TABC President Anis Jaziri at the opening of the…

About 52% energy security for Tunisia

Secretary General of the Tunisian Energy Society Fayçal Farhat Thursday said on Express Fm that up to the end of June 2023, Tunisia’s energy security stood at around 52%, adding that 50% of energy needs come from imports, which is considered a very low rate. He affirmed that the solutions lie in exploiting the resources currently available to Tunisia, stressing that it is unreasonable that national production of renewable energies should not exceed 2%. Farhat went on to say that energy development projects, concepts and strategies should be put into…

Tunisia foils 23 illegal immigration attempts

Tunisia recently thwarted 23 illegal immigration attempts to Italy overnight, the Tunisian National Guard announced on Wednesday. “The Tunisian Maritime Guard thwarted these illegal immigration attempts late Tuesday and early Wednesday off the country’s southeast and central coasts,” the Tunisian National Guard said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. Guard units also rescued 463 people from sinking boats. “Among the illegal immigrants, 349 are of different African nationalities and the others are Tunisian nationals. “Seven boats and a large sum of money were seized, in addition to the…

Foreign tourist arrivals in Tunisia increase significantly in 2023

Tunisia’s tourism sector is booming, with a remarkable 62.4% increase in foreign tourist arrivals in the first eight months of this year, the Ministry of Tourism said on Friday. According to the Ministry, between January and August this year, the total number of tourists reached 6.23 million. This remarkable growth can be attributed to a substantial increase in the number of French (up 23%), German (up 66.3%), Italian (up 25.9%) and Swiss (up 23.7%) tourists compared to the same period in 2022. In addition, there was a significant increase in…

Tunisia: Djerba Island designated UNESCO World Heritage Site

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has officially validated Djerba Island’s application for inclusion on the World Heritage List, at the 45th enlarged session of the World Heritage Committee being held from 10 to 25 September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the presence of Minister of Cultural Affairs, Hayat Ketat Guermazi, and the delegation accompanying her. This was announced by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in a press release published on its official website on Monday. A team of Tunisian experts from various structures and stakeholders at…

1st IFRIQUIA ENERGY HUB from September 18 to 20 in Tunis

Tunis will host the first IFRIQUIA ENERGY HUB from September 18 to 20, 2023, at the City of Culture. This major event, which will bring together the energy community in Tunisia and Africa, is organised by the Tunisian Energy Professionals Association (TENS, Tunisia Energy Society) with the support of several institutional partners such as the Entreprise Tunisienne des Activités Pétrolières (E. T.A.P.), the Agence Nationale pour la Maitrise de l’Energie(A.N.M.E.), AGIL Energy, the Green Hydrogen Organization (GH2), the Association Tunisienne du Pétrole et du Gaz (A.T.P.G.), the Societe Tunisienne de…

Bardo museum reopens after two-year closure

The Bardo National Museum in Tunis reopened its doors on Thursday after a two-year closure for “redevelopment work”. The museum’s director, Fatma Naït Yghil, told journalists present at the reopening of this jewel of Tunisian heritage that their job was to “refurbish and restore the monument to preserve its archaeological collections”.“The refurbishment work also affected the building, as the Bardo National Museum is also an attraction due to its Andalusian and Italian Mediterranean architecture, and not just for its archaeological collections”, she added. The Bardo Museum, located near the headquarters…

Tunisia’s 1H23 Budget Surplus Overstates Fiscal Consolidation

Tunisia’s fiscal deficit is expected to narrow to 5.8% of GDP in 2023, with the surplus reported in 1H23 unlikely to be sustained, Fitch Ratings said believing some costs relating to subsidies and transfers over the period have not yet been captured in the budget numbers. Tunisia posted a budget surplus of TND58.8 million (around 0.4% of GDP) in 1H23, influenced by lower-than-expected spending which reached only 38% of the full-year budgeted level. Subsidies and transfer expenditure in 1H23 was just 27% of the annual budget. We expect energy and…

Inflation reaches 9.3% in August 2023 says INS

Inflation rose to 9.3% in August 2023 after five consecutive months of decline, compared with 9.1% in July 2023 and 9.3% in June 2023, the National Statistics Institute (INS) announced on Tuesday. This rise in inflation is due to an acceleration in the rate of price increases between August and July of this year compared with the same period last year, particularly in the “Food” group, where the year-on-year increase in prices rose from 14.2% to 15.3%, the “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” group (from 1.8% to 4.6%) and the “Hotels…

AAAID supports agricultural development projects in Sidi Bouzid

The Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) will support agricultural development projects in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid as part of the “Central Production Market Platform Project”, which covers 70ha at a total cost of TND 116 million. This project was the focus of a meeting held on Tuesday between the Minister for the Economy and Planning, Samir Said, and the Chairman of AAAID, Mohammed bin Obaid Al Mazrooei. AAAID will contribute TND 22.3 million to the capital of the company managing this project. The two parties also…