Category: opinion

Tunisian coalition fails to agree on economic reforms, cabinet reshuffle

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Tunisia’s coalition government fails to agree on a new economic plan and a cabinet reshuffle, as the IMF prepares to review the country’s next loan tranche. Tunisia’s ruling coalition has failed to agree on a new economic reform plan and a cabinet reshuffle, officials said on Monday, in a new political setback as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prepares to review the next loan tranche. The North African country has been hailed as the Arab Spring’s only democratic success because protests toppled autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011…

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused massive global warming

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The asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs caused temperatures to rise by 5°C. Earth stayed that hot for 100,000 years. That’s much hotter than expected, which could mean we are underestimating how much the planet will warm in the next few centuries. “The implication is that the amount of warming that we are likely to see is greater than current predictions,” says Ken MacLeod of the University of Missouri in Columbia. The asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago slammed into rocks rich in carbonates, releasing immense quantities of carbon…

Agriculture marked as Africa’s path to prosperity, and Dube Port is an example of what is achievable

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Processing zones for staple crops, an initiative aimed at boosting food security, have been earmarked for several locations in Africa, and KwaZulu-Natal’s Dube Port is seen as providing valuable lessons. Such zones have been implemented in Malaysia, Vietnam and in Latin American countries, as well as in Tunisia and Morocco, the African Development Bank (AfDB) says. The bank views agriculture in Africa as a key to unlocking export growth. It estimates that more than 65% of the world’s arable land is located in Africa. And, while 61% of Africans work…

How Tunisia’s Startup Act is a blueprint for other African policy makers

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Tunisia’s new startup act, which was passed last month, is a blueprint for how other African countries could create an enabling environment for innovators and tech startups from the “bottom-up”, says a former banker and entrepreneur who helped draft the act. “This legal framework is the result of bottom-up work that was initiated by some of the entrepreneurial ecosystem players,” says Walid Hached, COO at Tunis-based co-working space at Cogite. The Tunisia Startup Act includes about a number of measures that aim to encourage entrepreneurship, make it easier to start and end a business, as well as easier to…

Tourism to ‘prevail’ over terror threat

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Tourism growth “will prevail” over security threats from terrorism, Tui Group chief executive Fritz Joussen has insisted. Tui returned to Tunisia from the UK last week for the first time since the massacre of 38 people, including 30 Tui UK customers, in Sousse in June 2015 and Joussen said: “Sousse was an incredible tragedy. These are scenes you do not forget.” Speaking at the release of Tui half-year results in Hamburg on Wednesday, Joussen said: “Terrorism is not only an issue for tourism. You see it in major cities. It…

Arab Index: 74% of Arabs support establishment of democratic regime in their countries

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The results of the survey conducted by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies showed that 74 per cent of the respondents in 11 Arab countries support democracy, compared to 16 per cent of the respondents who reject the establishment of democracy in their countries. These results were announced at  a press conference, on Wednesday at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, to launch the 2018 Arab Index survey. The Arab Index surveyed 18,830 citizens in Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq,…

Privatization of Tunisia’s Bankrupt Public-Sector Companies: A Necessary Evil

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The Tunisian government finds itself compelled to start implementing its privatization plans and permanently eradicate the daunting influence of the labor unions.  Momentum is building round the government’s intention to privatize public-sector companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy or simply limit its ownership to a small share and relieve itself of their burden. The debate is heating up while the UGTT, the biggest labor union in the country, still refuses to support the government’s privatization plans, stating unconvincing reasons related to the country’s economic structure and to the…

Reducing meat consumption to reduce CO2 emissions: a sustainable challenge

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Eating habits are responsible for carbon dioxide emissions and many countries could improve their carbon footprint by changing them. European countries are not all equal in terms of CO2 emissions, but an effort could be made. A study published by the nutrition store nu3 shows how Northern European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway could do better to decrease their CO2 emissions by eating in a more sustainable way: they are all in the top twenty of countries who could replace animal products with non-animal ones. In their case,…

Tunisia explores new Silk Road to revive its economy

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Tunisia is exploring the new Silk Road, which is expected to make it an investment hub in the region after officials revealed that the government is moving towards a strategic partnership with China before the end of current year. Tunisia’s rush to snatch a share of China’s investment in its new Silk Road strategy have accelerated in a move that experts say will boost the economic sectors in the country. Officials have unveiled plans for a clear strategy to link new partnerships with Beijing before the end of the year…

Tunisia’s Democratic Experiment Enters New Phase with Local Elections

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Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution in 2011 that ousted then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali set off the Arab Spring, a series of popular uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa that resulted in the overthrow of sclerotic governments. But the early optimism of the Arab Spring has since dimmed, as the revolutionary protests led to chronic instability in places like Yemen and Libya, the rise of a new authoritarian regime in Egypt and a bloodbath in Syria. Except in Tunisia. The country has clung to its initial hopes to enact reforms…