Day: March 9, 2024

The weather Saturday is sometimes very cloudy with scattered rains in the morning, partly cloudy elsewhere. The wind is blowing south, relatively strong to strong near northern coasts, on heights and locally the south with sand storms. Light to moderate elsewhere, getting stronger in the afternoon near eastern coasts. The sea is choppy to very choppy. Highs range between 20°C and 26°C in the north and midland and between 26°C and 31°C in the south. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The French group specialised in the sale of school and office supplies is in the process of setting up a production unit in the Fouchana industrial zone in the governorate of Ben Arous. The company seeks to create 250 jobs within 3 years and 1,700 jobs within 10 years, with an investment of pound 500,000, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) said on Friday. As part of monitoring the setting up of this new production unit, FIPA Managing Director Jalel Tebib received on Friday Technical Manager (Tunisia) and Research and Development Manager (China) Rahim Salhab of the French group. Tebib outlined the specific features of Tunisia's business climate, which have helped several foreign companies in recent years expand their investments in a number of sectors, notably the plastics industry, and FIPA's role in providing advice, guidance and assistance. Founded in 1947, MAPED is a French family-owned company that designs and manufactures school writing, colouring and office products, fun activity kits an d mobile food containers. Present in 120 countries, the group has 17 subsidiaries and operates in the cutting, tracing and erasing markets. Its manufacturing units are based in China, India and Mexico. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisian olive oil export revenues from November 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024 reached TND 2.3 billion, up 74% compared with the same period last season, announced the National Oil Office (ONH). This increase is mainly due to the rise in the price of olive oil, from TND 15,192 per tonne last season to TND 26,407 per tonne at present. In terms of volume, the exported quantities rose very slightly by 0.3% to 87470 tonnes, compared with 87213 tonnes a year earlier. On the other hand, the volume of exported packaged olive oil increased by 14.8% to 8628 tonnes (accounting for almost 10% of the total quantity of oil exported during the current season). Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia's banking sector is able to meet tothe growing financing needs of the State in 2024, said the international financial rating agency, Fitch Ratings, explaining that "healthy growth in deposits and low demand for credit helps support the sector's liquidity.» In a note published on March 7, Fitch indicated that banks' recourse to refinancing with the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) was below 9 billion dinars (i.e. 7% of total sector financing) at the end of August 2023, which suggests adequate liquidity conditions. Nevertheless, the high dependence on banks and the BCT to meet financing needs could lead to macroeconomic risks, tighten banks' liquidity conditions as well as increase their solvency risks in case of a sovereign default, the financial rating agency said. In February 2024, the government borrowed 1 billion dinars on the domestic market, exceeding its objective of TND750 million for the first tranche of subscriptions to the 2024 national bond loan. This is in addition to the TND7 billion that the Treasury borrowed from the BCT which allowed it to repay 850 million Eurobonds (performed on February 17). The 2024 budget provides for a 20% increase in gross financing needs compared to last year, to TND28.7 billion, 40% of which (around TND12.3 billion) would be covered by domestic financing sources and the rest through external financing, Fitch indicated, emphasizing that budgetary financing must be equal to or greater than 16% of GDP per year in 2024-2025, one of the highest percentages among sovereign states rated «CCC+» or lower . According to the same source, "the government may not be able to raise more than $2.5 billion from external financing sources in 2024, which would leave a gap of at least $2.5 billion compared to the scheduled external financing". Fitch does not count "on an agreement between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before this year's presidential elections." The agency believes that nearly 70% of gross financing needs in 2024, or 12% of GDP, will have to be met by national sources, namely banks and the BCT. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Our Medinas without plastic" is the slogan of a new campaign launched Saturday by the Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in La Kasbah Square, the Médina of Tunis, a few days after curtains came down on an initiative dubbed "2023, Year of Cleanliness". The new campaign will be conducted in collaboration with the Municipality of Tunis and Tunisian Scouts. It is intended to reduce plastic pollution in the medinas, the old cities in Tunisian towns and attractive tourist destinations . Tunisia generates more than 2.5 million tonnes of waste a year. Plastic waste accounts for around 10% of this total, according to the Ministry of the Environment. Around 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste end up in the sea every year, seriously damaging marine ecosystems. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse