Day: March 6, 2024

The weather Wednesday is partly cloudy in most regions, growing cloudy in the afternoon in centre-west regions.

The wind is blowing north-west in the north and east in the midland and south, relatively strong near coast and light to moderate inland.

The sea is choppy to rough in the north and rough to a bit choppy elsewhere.

Temperatures are steady with highs ranging between 17°C and 22°C, hovering over 15°C on western heights.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Four partnership framework agreements were signed on March 5 in Tunis, between the National Agency for Environmental Protection (ANPE) and the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Sicily (ARPA), the Italian partner of the strategic project “Environmental Education for a Sustainable Mediterranean – EdEn-MED,” co-funded by the European Union as part of the Tunisia-Italy Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020.

The aim of the EdEn-MED project is to introduce innovative teaching methods into the Tunisian and Sicilian education systems in order to encourage environmental protection for sustainable development.

It consists in mobilising education and environmental protection players in the programme area to boost cooperation for innovative and sustainable environmental education.

The agreements signed mainly cover cooperation in the fields of environmental education, water quality management, the preservation of biodiversity, the fight against climate change and air quality control.

Source: Agence
Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia needs to devise a medium- and long-term food policy to boost its food security, in view of the growing global food crisis arising, among other things, from the repercussions of COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukranian conflict, as well as the climate change effects,” according to a recent report published by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES).

According to the report, entitled “Food Security in Tunisia to 2035,” Tunisia’s food system is suffering from a number of problems, including increased dependence on fluctuating external markets, heavy pressure on natural resources, the fragmentation of plots of land and the ageing of farmers, combined with the disaffection of young workers and poor access to new agricultural technologies, which are all examples of structural factors undermining Tunisians’ food security.

ITES considers it crucial to devise a comprehensive vision of Tunisia’s food security by 2035, with a view to establishing an inclusive, sustainable and innovative food system that i
s resilient to shocks and climate change and less dependent on the external world.

The study sets out in this regard, a number of goals for achieving food sovereignty in the country, through the mobilisation of a range of appropriate actions.

The main goal is to “ensure sustainable food availability that is less dependent on imports,” which means setting up a cross-cutting, cross-ministerial institutional structure responsible for food security.

This structure will be tasked with drawing up the new food and nutrition policy, implementing it on the basis of effective horizontal and vertical coordination with stakeholders, and periodically assessing and adjusting it in line with the State’s strategic vision and any unforeseen circumstances.

Meanwhile, it is necessary “to improve agricultural production and productivity, by enhancing the preparation and conduct of agricultural campaigns, adopting agronomic techniques better tailored to climate change, stepping up agricultural outreach, making the best use of
state-owned land, and so on.”

ITES also recommends stepping up research and innovation to improve food security, and repositioning government intervention as a mediator and strategic regulator in the food system.

“The State must devise a gradual liberalisation plan for each agricultural product, notably with regard to non-strategic agri-food products such as tea, coffee and sugar.”

“It must intervene to readjust the prices of certain basic products in the event of a crisis, and tighten controls on the storage and distribution chains in the agri-food sector.”

The study also points to the need to reduce food dependency on external markets. To achieve this, it recommends better anticipating future shocks and preparing for changes in global markets, reducing the import bill through controlled, multi-year planning of purchases on the global market and creating a simplified procedure for importing basic products by streamlining current public procurement procedures.

The aim is also to “improve storage and dist
ribution channels and logistical conditions, by equipping each region with suitable markets (wholesale and municipal) and slaughterhouses, increasing the number of direct sales outlets from producer to consumer, and setting up digital platforms and digitising storage and distribution channels to increase the transparency of commercial transactions and combat speculation.”

The ITES also calls for improving conditions of access to finance, insurance, encouraging investment in agriculture and the agri-food sector and reducing losses and recovering food waste.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia will participate in the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo (Japan) which will be held from April 13 to October 13, 2025, on the theme of “Designing the Society of the Future, Imagining Our Life of Tomorrow.”

160 country and nearly 28 million visitors will attend the event.

The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo will take place on the artificial island of Yumeshima, which is located on the waterfront of the Japanese city of Osaka, said, Monday, CEO of the Export Promotion Center (CEPEX) Mourad Ben Hassine, during an information day held on this event at the CEPEX headquarters, in collaboration with the Tunisian-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCITJ ).

The Tunisian pavilion will cover an area of 300 m2 and will be run along three main axes in relation to the chosen theme, namely “the management and optimization of water resources”, “healthy local products and cultural heritage” and “Tunisia’s progress in the fields of science and medicine,” he added.

«We will seek to promote Tunisia’s image by highlighting the r
ichness of its cultural and historical heritage and get visitors immersed in the Tunisian culture and history from the Carthaginian era until the contemporary period,» Ben Hassine pointed out.

«We will also promote Tunisia’s main wealth, namely its resilient youth who are capable of meeting challenges as well as developing creative and innovative solutions in different areas,» the same source said, adding that « we will make sure that Tunisia could serve as a Japan’s strategic partner.»

According to Ben Hassine, the Tunisian participation aims to establish win-win partnerships, market the Tunisian offer in terms of goods and services, provide new commercial and exchange opportunities and attract investments in the field of innovation, science and technology.

He pointed out that an emphasis will be laid on promoting local tourism and persuade stakeholders that Tunisia could serve as an ideal platform fostering the transfer of knowledge and technologies to other African nations, thanks to its strategic geogr
aphical location.

Taking the floor, Minister of Trade and Export Development, Kathoum Ben Rejeb, stressed that this participation, which is organized by a national steering committee chaired by the CEO of CEPEX, is part of Tunisia’s efforts to adhere to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She spoke of the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) which was held on August 27 and 28, 2022 in Tunisia. She described the conference as «a big success» which helped at devising a work plan aimed at developing African countries.

Japanese Ambassador to Tunisia, Takeshi Osuga, declared that this international event which takes place every five years, over six months, offers participating countries a unique opportunity to promote various economic sectors and highlight their efforts aimed at finding solutions to meet current challenges.

The Japanese Ambassador congratulated Tunisia on the successful organization of TICAD 8, referring to the agreement signed between Tunisia and Japan, last Feb
ruary 26, on building a wastewater treatment station in Gabès.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Tunindex benchmark rebounded during Wednesday’s session, showing a slight uptick of 0.09% to 8664.9 points, according to broker Tunisie Valeurs.

Trading activity remained modest, totalling TND 4 million. Euro-Cycles shares delivered the session’s strongest performance, accumulating a transaction volume of TND 251,000, with the specialist in cycles witnessing a 4.6% increase to TND 13.330.

The upward trend continues for CIL shares. The leasing company’s shares posted a 4.5% advance to TND 20.900. However, trading for the stock remained subdued at TND 2,000.

BH Bank shares found themselves at the bottom of the Tunindex. The state-owned bank’s shares declined by 3.9% to settle at TND 11.100, amidst negligible trading activity.

Poulina Group Holding shares failed to stand out in the session, bending by 2.6% to TND 7. Trading for the stock amounted to a mere TND 65,000 during the session.

BIAT emerged as the session’s highlight. The shares of the private bank registered a 1.1% increase to TND 91.000, inje
cting TND 1.2 million into the market, constituting 30% of the total session volume.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Embu County Government is rolling out an automatic revenue collection system that is expected to seal all loopholes for revenue pilferage.

Governor Cecily Mbarire said the system developed in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT and Safaricom will make it possible to monitor revenue collected in real time.

She said her government’s revenue collection grew from Sh 350 to Sh 679 million in the last one year and automating the system is expected to grow it further to Sh 1 billion.

The governor was speaking at her boardroom Wednesday morning when she witnessed the swearing in of the first Embu County Revenue Authority (ECRA) Board members.

The board was established by the enactment of a law by the Embu County assembly four years ago but has never been constituted until now.

The Board will be headed by Eng Benson Kinga who will be chairman, while the members include the County Solicitor Kimani Karanja, Ms Jennifer Nyaga, Sophie Kaburu, James Ireri, Eric Njeru, Duncan Nyaga Muratia and Damiano Muthee, who is
the County Chief Officer for Finance.

Ms. Mbarire put the county’s revenue officers on notice that forthwith, any of them found collecting revenue in cash will be summarily dismissed, saying the time when the county government entertained cases was over.

She cited cess collection points, markets, bus and car parks as some of the notorious revenue loss risk areas and said officers in those departments will need to pull up their socks.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Ifriqiya submarine cable in the Ain Meriem area of Bizerte was put into service on Wednesday, in the presence of officials from the Ministry of Communication Technologies and representatives of the private mobile operator Ooredoo Tunisia.

Ifriqiya, which has a capacity of 200 Gbt, is connected to the main route between Marseille in France and Abu Talaat in Egypt over a length of 950 km from the Bizerte connection point, offering a high capacity of around 3 TB/s (terabits per second).

In a statement to TAP, Kamel Saadaoui, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Communication Technologies, said that this new project is part of the state’s strategy and represents one of the priorities in the development of the basic infrastructure of telecommunications networks, as well as an ideal infrastructure for the launch of 5th generation (5G) services.

Tunisia has chosen to diversify its operators given the high cost of this type of infrastructure and the need to overcome any problems that may arise, the same source no
ted, pointing out that operators are being invited to invest in submarine cables as the country has identified a need for around 6 or 7 submarine cables.

Ooredoo Tunisia CEO, Mansour Rachid El-Khater, stressed that the Ifriqiya project is one of the strategic projects launched by Ooredoo to connect the northern Tunisian coast from the city of Bizerte to the city of Marseille in France in record time.

Ifryqia is one of the major projects in the digital strategy and an investment magnet for major companies operating in this field, thanks to its high data flow capacity and the quality of the services offered without any interruption problems.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation (APII) in partnership with the French international technical cooperation agency «Expertise France», organized, Wednesday in Sousse, the 1st Regional Conference on Crowdfunding . The 2nd conference is scheduled for next September 2024 in Tozeur.

The conference, which was attended by government officials and experts, aims to disseminate the culture of crowdfunding and better identify it as a funding mechanism in the governorates of Monastir, Mahdia and Kairouan.

At the opening of the conference, Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Thabet Chiboub, underlined that crowdfunding is based on raising funds from the public, through platforms dedicated to this purpose in order to fund projects or companies, by making investments in transferable securities or by credits or donations.

She added that this funding mechanism is a financial innovation to fund projects, by mobilizing individual savings through online platforms. This mechanism seeks to chang
e the way projects are funded, by creating a direct and transparent link between project owners and citizens.

Crowdfunding makes it possible to finance startups as well as small and medium-sized businesses in its various stages.

According to the minister, crowdfunding is one of the ways of mobilizing financial resources allowing Tunisian expatriates to contribute to the development process in Tunisia by launching investments in the productive economy.

APII CEO Omar Bouzouada told TAP that crowdfunding represents an innovative way of funding, through the participation of individuals and other organizations, via online platforms.

Bouzouada stressed that crowdfunding will be subject to rigorous control, through three structures, namely, the BCT for credits, microfinance associations, with regard to donations and the Financial Market Council (CMF), for capital participation.

He affirmed that this mechanism targets young people wishing to launch innovative projects whose value does not exceed TND 2 million, a
dding that individual participations do not exceed TND 20,000 for each participant.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse