Month: June 2017

Foreign investment in Tunisia grows 2.2 pct in first 5 months

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Foreign investment in Tunisia grew 2.2 percent to 0.82 billion dinars (0.33 U.S. dollars) in the first five months, Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) of Tunisia said Thursday. During the same period of last year, foreign investment was 0.80 billion dinars, said Hatem Soussi, director of the monitoring and support unit of FIPA. According to him, 18.8 million dinars was portfolio investment, a drop of 29.6 percent, while the rest was foreign direct investment, an increase of 3.3 percent. The energy sector, which accounts for 50 percent of total investment,…

US promotes Algeria in global human trafficking ranking

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Algeria has moved from a category three to a category two in human trafficking according to a report by the US State Department on trafficking in human beings. This improvement on ranking comes with an observation list and brings Algeria back to the same position it occupied in 2010 amongst the 188 countries surveyed. According to the report, which was unveiled yesterday in Washington by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Tunisia, Morocco and Afghanistan have ranked better than Algeria which is grouped with Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The US…

Tunisian gaming startup Polysmart raises $600k

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Tunisian gaming startup Polysmart has raised TND1.5 million (US$600,000) from CDC Gestion, a fund firm formed after a public-private partnership between private investors and the Tunisian government’s Deposit and Consignment Office. Founded in 2015, Polysmart will use the funding to finish its flagship video game Veterans Online and expand into new markets. The company said the investment was “historic” as it was the largest ever secured by a video game studio in Tunisia and throughout the Maghreb region. “The importance of the amount awarded is an affirmation of confidence in the ability…

Italy No Longer Leading Producer Of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Study Finds

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For the first time, Italy is no longer the leading producer of extra virgin olive oil, with the country having now been surpassed by both Spain and Greece. The findings were issued by the National Consortium of Olive Growers (Consorzio Nazionale Olivicoltori – CNO), adding that Syria would have also surpassed Italy had it not been suffering from a devastating war. It also underlined the growth of Morocco (+44%) and Turkey (+ 27%) in the last six years, a period during which production in Italy fell by 31%. Based on the provisional…

Couscous, capitalism and neocolonialism in Tunisia

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The international economic order does not look kindly on hints of self-sufficiency or agricultural independence. Just ask Tunisian farmers. The man confessed that he had often questioned his decision to abandon his village near the Tunisian-Algerian border to seek work in Italy, where – contrary to popular belief, he declared – there was little proper food to be found. In his village, he said, his family grew everything they needed. He launched into an enthusiastic run-down of the bread-making process. Unfortunately for my little-while friend and other global inhabitants, however,…

Euro-Med region does not believe in clash of civilization

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New survey reveals that the Euro-Med region, including a vast majority of Italians, does not believe in the myth of clash of civilisation. The results of a new survey on Intercultural Trends in the Euro-Mediterranean region, carried out by Ipsos-Mori in 13 countries, were presented on Friday by the Anna Lindh Foundation at the Italian Parliament in Rome. Involving more more than 13,000 people across 13 Euro-Mediterranean countries – Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and The Netherlands) and five Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) countries (Algeria, Israel, Jordan,…

A Lyrical Cruise in Tunis

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Urban scholars spend at least a decade thinking about the cities they research from the time they identify a research problem to the time they publish their manuscript. But we rarely find published those initial thoughts that are as much about misunderstanding as about comprehending the cities we turn into research projects. This essay is based on field notes from my first summer of pre-dissertation fieldwork in Tunisia, May to July 2014. I use pseudonyms to protect the identity of my interlocutors. The current version is loyal to my mis/understandings…

Western approach erases our memory, Tunisian director Nacer Khemir says

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Director of well-received films such as ‘Bab-Âziz,’ ‘The Dove’s Necklace’ and ‘Wanderers of the Desert,’ Tunisian director Nacer Khemir’s new film, ‘Looking for Muhyiddin,’ depicts the life of the great Islamic philosopher Muhyiddin ibn-i Arabi and premieres in Turkey soon. Tunisian director Nacer Khemir is preparing for the release of his movie, “Looking for Muhyiddin,” which focuses on the life of Muhyiddin İbn-i Arabi, in Turkey. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), the famous director who is known for his movies, including “Bab’Aziz,” “The Dove’s Lost Necklace,” and “Wanderers of the…

Morocco, 2nd Most Connected Country in Africa

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Morocco was ranked the second most connected country in Africa and the 33rd globally in a study by the Internet Live Stats website. The website said in its annual internet users report 2016, that Morocco counts 20.068.556 internet users among a population estimated at 34.817.065, that is a penetration rate of 57.6%, the second highest rate in Africa after Seychelles with 57.9%. Elsewhere in the Maghreb, Tunisia registered 5,472,618 users and 48.1% penetration rate, while Algeria lagged behind with 19.7% penetration rate and 7,937,913 users. Globally, Iceland posted 100% penetration…

Tourism to Tunisia won’t recover without Brits, says tourist office

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Security in Tunisia has been “dramatically tightened” in the two years since the Sousse massacre but tourism will only recover if British holidaymakers return, says the country’s tourist office. Speaking just after the two-year anniversary of the terrorist gun attack in Tunisia which killed 38 holidaymakers, including 30 Brits, the tourist office said 1.5 million European tourists visited the destination last year. These included 400,000 French, 130,000 Germans and 630,000 Russians. Sami Tounsi, trade manager at the Tunisian National Tourist Office, said: “All went home safely. Since the attack on…