Tunisia
While negotiations with the International Monetary Fund show few signs of progress, Tunisia keeps contact with other major international credit institutions. The Tunisian president, Kais Saied, met in Tunis with the president of the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction, Odile-Renauld Basso. During the meeting, Saied underscored the country’s interest to partner with the Bank in projects related to renewable energy, healthcare, desalination, infrastructures and digital technologies while respecting the sovereignty of Tunisian people. Renauld-Basso had already met with Tunisian prime minister Ahmed Hachani in January, on the backdrop of the annual Davos Forum.
This month, Hachani also met World Bank deputy president for the Middle East and North Africa, Farid Belhaj, to discuss avenues for cooperation within the scope of the 2023-2027 Country Partnership Framework. The meeting follows months of tensions in the wake of Saied’s controversial March statements concerning the ethnic danger presented by the influx of sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia. The ensuing diplomatic crisis had prompted the Bank to temporarily suspend its CPF with Tunisia, which grants Tunisia a yearly funding of 500 million dollars over five years.
Meanwhile, the Tunisian executive strengthens its control over the country’s monetary policy. The Tunisian parliament approved a draft law authorizing the Central Bank to directly finance the treasury by buying State bonds. Announced by the Tunisian minister of Finance, Sihem Boughdiri Nemsia, the provision stems from difficulties in finding sources of external financing to cover the growing budget deficit. Last month, Tunisia – whose public debt amounts to 80% of its GDP – had also been blacklisted by the International Monetary Fund along with other countries whose IMF negotiations had yielded no result for over eighteen months.
Tunisia strengthens ties with Europe and Italy. The EU signed several agreements to unlock external subsidies worth 8,7 million euros to support Tunisia’s cereal production. The deal is part of the EU “Adapt Cereals” program implemented by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development (Aics) and aims to contain the food crisis engendered by the disruption of Ukrainian wheat and fertilizer supply as well as by climate-change induced droughts. Italy and Tunisia also announced the launch of the first batch of tenders under the Interreg VI-A Next program for cross-border cooperation. With 22-million-euro budget, the program promotes cooperation between PMEs, research institutes, NGOS and municipal and regional institutions of five Italian provinces and nine Tunisian governorates.
Saudi Arabia also widens its investment portfolio in the North African country. The Saudi Fund for Development inked an agreement with Tunis for a 55-million-dollar investment in Tunisia’s railways. The deal includes the upgrading of Tunisia’s 190-chilometers railway network for phosphate transport between Sfax, Gabes and Gafsa. The phosphate sector covers about 4% of Tunisia’s GDP and 15% of its exports. Last July, Saudi Arabia had announced it would support the battered Tunisian economy with a 500-million-dollar soft loan.
Finally, Tunisia pursues regional integration by launching a new maritime trade route linking the port of Sfax with Libya, Morocco and Spain. According to Tunisian authorities, the route should be operational by March. The project is the last of a slew of initiatives aimed at enhancing regional trade, such as the Tunisia-Libya trade corridor and the creation of a joint Algerian-Tunisian commission for cross-border cooperation.
Download the February 2024 report
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| Head of state | Kais Saied |
| Head of Government | Ahmed Hachani |
| Institutional Form | Unitary presidential republic |
| Capital | Tunis |
| Legislative Power | Assembly of the Representatives of the People (217 Members), temporarily suspended |
| Judicial Power | Court of Cassation (composed of First President, House of Presidents and Magistrates; it’s organised into 27 civil and 11 Penal Houses) |
| Ambassador to Italy | Mourad Bourelha |
| Total Area kmq | 163.610 km2 |
| Land | 155.360 km2 |
| Weather | Temperate in the north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in the south |
| Natural resources | Petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc and salt |
| Economic summary | Its economy particularly suffered from the global financial crisis of 2008, helping to start the Jasmine Revolution in 2010-2011, which led to popular protests, uprisings and a regime change. Despite the establish of a democratic system, the social and economic expectations of Tunisian people remain unmet, generating a lot of protests between 2019 and 2020. The social and political context has been aggravated by the pandemic of Covid-19, and this led the President to announce a temporary suspension of Parliament. |
| GDP | € 46.5 billion (2023) |
| Pro-capite GDP (Purchasing power parity) | $2889 (Dec. 2021) |
| Exports | € 18.2 billion (2023) |
| Export partner | France 29.4%, Italy 17.2%, Germany 14.2%, United States 4.12% (2020) Imports: $16.5 billion (2020) |
| Imports | € 23.2 billion (2023) |
| Import partner | France 17.6%, Italy 16.5%, Germany 8.54%, China 8.67%, Türkiye 5.57% (2020) |
| Trade With Italy | € 6,865 billion (2023) |
| Population | 11.896.972 (2022) |
| Population Growth | 0,69% (2022 est.) |
| Ethnicities | Arabs 98%, Europeans 1%, Jews and others 1% |
| Languages | Arabic (official, one of the languages of trade), French (trade), Berber (Tamazight) |
| Religions | Islamic (official, Sunni) 99.1%, other (includes Christians, Jews, Shia Muslims and Baha'i) <1% |
| Urbanization | 70,2% (2022) |
| Literacy | 81.8% (2020) |
Independent since 1956, the Tunisian Republic overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and borders with Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Most of the 11.8-million population is Arab. There are, however, Imaziɣen and European minorities. The country’s official language is Arabic, but French is widely spoken.
Lacking major oil resources, over the years Tunisia has developed a market-oriented economy and an interesting manufacturing industry, which make it a success story in Africa and the Arab world.
Italy has always seen Tunisia as a natural production platform for companies willing to diversify their activities and penetrate new markets in the Maghreb and, more generally, Africa. The country’s appeal stems from factors including geographical proximity to important markets, the availability of skilled labour and the presence of competitive high-added-value production chains such as automotive, textile and garments, aerospace, plastics, renewable energy, information technology and telecommunications. With a total trade of $ 6,47 billion (2021), Italy is Tunisia’s second trade partner. With a positive balance, Italy is the second largest exporter to Tunisia and the second largest importer from it, with a total market share of 14 percent as of October 2020. Italy’s economic presence in Tunisia is large, solid and dynamic, with around 800 companies employing over 68,000 people. Italian companies represent one third of the companies with foreign participation in the country. Most of these are concentrated in Greater Tunis and the coastal regions and operate in major manufacturing sectors, including textile and garment, energy, construction, automotive components, banking, transport, mechanical, electrical, pharmaceutical, tourism and agri-food.
