Month: May 2024

Tunis: The “Romena Tour in Testour” initiative designed to promote the city’s flagship fruit as a symbol of local identity will be officially launched next May 11.

This iniative is the result of a public-private collaboration between the Pomegranate Festival Association (French: AFG) and regional institutions under the ministries of agriculture, tourism and cultural affairs. The route will help attract more visitors throughout the year, reads a Project for Market Access of Typical Agrofood Products (PAMPAT) press release.

The aim is to showcase the pomegranate-related products and services through a set of experiences offered in agriculture, agrifood, gastronomy, tourism, handicrafts and leisure.

This innovative territorial marketing approach aims to promote local products and heritage by putting spotlight on pomegranates in all their facets.

This initiative, supported by the PAMPAT, is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and funded by the Swiss State Secretariat
for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The stock market got off to a good start on Monday. The benchmark index rose 0.2% to 9,142.9 points on very limited volume of TND 2.7 million.

TELNET was the session’s top performer. Shares in the engineering and technology consulting specialist rose 5.8% to TND 5.640, with TND 52,000 traded.

ATB shares also performed well during the session. Shares in the subsidiary of the Arab Bank Group rose by 4% to TND 2.880, attracting TND 116,000 in revenue.

Shares of Amen Bank topped the trading charts. The share of the financial arm of the PGI group ended the session in the green (+1% to TND 39.500), feeding the market with a capital of TND 929,000.

Ciments de Bizerte was the worst performer of the session. Traded at TND 1,000, the shares of the state-owned cement company fell by 4.3% to TND 0.670.

Euro-Cycles shares continued to bleed. The bicycle manufacturer’s shares fell by 2.3% to TND 11.410 in a sell-off. Trading in the stock was relatively light at TND 77,000.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Niamey: “Tunisian companies are invited to seize the opportunities offered by the Niger market, particularly in such key sectors as agriculture, energy, water, health and real estate,” said Jamel Ksibi, president of the National Federation of Construction and Public Works Contractors, part of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA).

Speaking at the Niger-Tunisia Business Forum held in Niamey on Monday, he expressed the desire of Tunisian businessmen, especially young entrepreneurs, to invest in Niger and set up projects in the agricultural, health and construction and public works (BTP) sectors.

Noamen Hamdani, head of the commercial representation of the Export Promotion Centre (CEPEX) in Abidjan, pointed out that around 60 companies (excluding the service sector) export their products to Niger, but only 5 companies export on a regular basis.

These exports consist mainly of food products (couscous, flour, etc.) and mechanical and electrical products (cables, transformers, etc
.),” he said.

He went on to say that CEPEX was working to help Tunisian companies find a strategic partner to ensure the long-term future of Tunisian exports both to the Niger market and to other markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tunisian exports to the Niger market remain low, despite the existence of a number of opportunities,” he said. In 2023, they will amount to 20 million dinars, compared with 45 million dinars in 2021.

For his part, Niger’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Seydou Asman, pointed out that the Nigerien government intends to encourage the promotion and development of partnerships between Nigerien businessmen and their Tunisian counterparts in order to realise commercial opportunities and contracts and carry out industrial projects.

He underlined that the private sector will help to meet two major challenges: the massive creation of jobs for young people and the generation of substantial own resources for the development of basic infrastructures in the economic, health, energy, hydraulics,
hotel, education and access to information and communication technologies sectors.

The Niger Minister invited Tunisian companies to take advantage of the investment opportunities offered by Niger in all sectors of activity in order to establish win-win partnerships between the two countries.

He pointed out that Niger occupies a strategic position in Africa, being at the crossroads between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

He went on to say that Niger is a multicultural and multilingual country whose social cohesion is based on the values of wisdom, solidarity and tolerance inherited from its past as a land of transit and mixing of populations.

For his part, President of the Niger Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Handicrafts, Moussa Sidi Mohamed, invited Tunisian companies to invest in Niger with confidence, saying that Niger’s business leaders are eager to forge fruitful and mutually beneficial partnerships.

Niger’s regulatory framework is conducive to investment and offers a wide range of opportunit
ies,” he added.

In 2022, trade between Niger and Tunisia reached $10.191 million in imports and $31 million in exports.

More than thirty Tunisian companies are taking part in a business mission to Niamey, Niger, from May 4 to 9, 2024, at the initiative of the National Chamber of Export Consultants (UTICA) and the Tunisia-Niger Development Economic Interest Group (GIE Tunisie Niger Développement), in collaboration with the Niger Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The main objective of this business mission is to increase the presence of Tunisian products in Niger and Nigerien products in Tunisia, and to promote exchanges of experts between the two countries.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: A permanent cooperation framework (PCF) has been set up to promote cooperation between the Tunisian, French, Italian and Moroccan Caisses de Dépôts.

Created following a meeting held on May 2 in Rome (Italy) between the CEOs of the four institutions, namely Nejia Gharbi (Tunisia), Eric Lombard (France), Dario Scannapiecco (Italy) and Khalid Safir (Morocco), this framework will provide a flexible and operational platform for discussion.

It will also provide an opportunity to share best practices in such key areas as urban development, adaptation to climate change, biodiversity protection, sustainable infrastructure development and financing projects led by start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a press release from the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC).

It will also promote coordination with the entire financial ecosystem in the Mediterranean, whether national structures similar to the CDC or the main financial players involved in the Mediterranean, such as the Eu
ropean Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), national development agencies or various networks of investors, especially long-term investors, in order to ensure appropriate synergies between the various financial mechanisms.

At the 7th International Conference of Caisses de Dépôt, held in Abidjan in September 20-23, these four institutions launched a process to further develop cooperation.

“Their first meeting in Rome reflects the shared ambition of the four heads of the CDCs to find common solutions to the major challenges facing the Mediterranean region.

The region faces many challenges, first and foremost global warming, with temperatures rising 20% faster than the global average.

The Mediterranean’s unique marine and coastal biodiversity is under serious threat. Coastal erosion, rising sea levels, desertification, water stress, etc. are all phenomena that are already a reality for many countries in the region.

In addition to these environmental challenges,
there are social, economic and energy issues that have been exacerbated in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

During the meeting, the officials took stock of the various initiatives to stimulate and promote investment in the Mediterranean, such as InfraMed.

In this context, they reaffirmed their institutions’ active contribution to efforts to protect ecosystems and adapt to climate change, and reiterated their commitment to putting financial innovation at the service of human potential by meeting the financing needs of start-ups and SMEs.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Tunisia’s export earnings from citrus fruit reached 29.4 million dinars by May 6, up 15.4% compared to the same period last year.

According to the Inter-Professional Fruit Grouping (GiFruits), 8506 tonnes of citrus fruit were exported during the current campaign, which runs from October 10, 2023 to May 6, 2024, compared with 7614 tonnes in the previous campaign.

Tunisian citrus fruit is mainly exported to France, a market which accounted for 90% of exports, equivalent to 7,708 tonnes, followed by Libya (620 tonnes), Qatar (86 tonnes) and the United Arab Emirates (47 tonnes).

The Maltese variety is the most popular on international markets. Tunisia exported 8,073 tonnes this season, including 142 tonnes of Clementines, 83 tonnes of Navels and 71 tonnes of organic Maltaises.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Tunisian textile sector has just drawn up a roadmap setting out the steps to be taken to ensure the success of its green transition.

The roadmap was drawn up by the technical committees set up to monitor the “Green Transition of Tunisian Textiles” project, an innovative initiative led by the Tunisian Textile and Clothing Federation (FTTH) to promote environmental sustainability in the Tunisian textile industry.

The initiative aims to recycle 90% of wastewater, reduce companies’ carbon footprints by 30%, use 100% renewable electricity, reduce textile waste by 50% and certify 100 textile companies to ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 standards, by 2030.

The roadmap, which sets out the guidelines for the sector’s green transition, follows the signing on May 2 of a memorandum of understanding between the Tunisian government, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Export Development, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, represented by its embassy in Tunis and the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Devel
oping Countries (CBI), to support the transition to a green and circular Tunisian textile industry.

The rules governing access to the European market have been revised following the unveiling of the European Green Deal in December 2019, under which the European Union (EU) is taking a growing interest in the environmental impact of its consumption in third countries and is beginning to use the rules governing access to the European market as a lever in favour of its ecological transition.

Further rules and restrictions are planned for the near future. That’s why FTTH is working hard to comply with the standards and to take the path of sustainability and circularity in order to maintain and strengthen the position of Tunisian textiles on the European market.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The working meeting between Minister of the Economy and Planning, Feryel Ouerghi Sebai, and President of the Tunisian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Khelil Chaibi, on Monday discussed the reforms needed to further improve the investment and business climate, particularly with regard to the simplification of procedures and transactions and the digitalisation of related services.

During the meeting, which took place at the ministry’s headquarters, the two sides underlined their shared interest in developing French investment in Tunisia in various sectors, particularly those with a promising future and high added value.

In the same context, the meeting also highlighted the importance and necessity of stepping up promotional efforts to promote Tunisia as a strategic investment destination in the Mediterranean and African regions, particularly for large industrial complexes.

French investment rank first among foreign investments in Tunisia, with 1,500 companies operating in various sectors and
providing around 150,000 jobs.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Tunisian economy, like other economies in the region, will be affected by the rising prices of imported materials that rely on copper as a raw material or as part of their composition, predicts the Arab Institute of Business Managers (IACE).

In a ‘Reading of Rising Metal Prices’, the institute said that the decline in copper production and rising prices will affect the global and Arab economies as it is widely used in power generation and the manufacture of cables, solar panels, wind turbines, electrical equipment, factories, electronics and construction.

This increase will in turn drive investors to safe havens such as gold and silver, while the instability of copper prices could pose a major challenge to the global and Arab economies, given its widespread use in many industries and its impact on interest rates and inflation.

Unlike gold and silver, the dynamics of copper prices are closely linked to industrial demand and economic conditions, with the price of copper rising from $3,802/lb2 at t
he beginning of 2024 to around $4,676 on April 29, 2024.

According to the Institute, this price increase is due to several factors, the most important of which are the increase in manufacturing activity around the world leading to higher demand, the imposition of new sanctions on Russian mineral exports and the decline in global mine production, particularly in Chile, the world’s largest copper producer. Chile’s production reached around 5 million tonnes in 2023, down from 5.2 million tonnes in 2022, accounting for around 24% of total global production, according to IACE.

China, as the largest supplier of copper, also influences market prices, as it imported $50 billion worth of copper in 2022, of which about 31 per cent came from Chile.

Gold and silver: Safe Havens

The price of gold has risen by around 14.5 per cent since the beginning of the year amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as the price of gold reached $2336 (around 7340 dinars) per ounce on April 29, up from around $2040 (
around 6418 dinars) per ounce at the start of the year.

Rising demand for gold has also had an impact on gold prices, as central banks around the world have maintained their year-on-year purchases of gold to combat high inflation over the past two years, according to the World Gold Council.

The World Gold Council reported that the net gold reserves held by central banks in the first three months of this year were nearly 36,000 tonnes.

Economists and analysts expect gold prices to exceed $2,500 an ounce in the coming period if demand continues and geopolitical risks do not abate.

These tensions were also reflected in silver prices, which reached $27.24 per ounce, up from $23.20 at the start of the year.

English: Samir Ben Romdhane

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse