Tunisia plans to issue up to 800 million euros of bonds in 2020

Tunisia needs around 8.5 billion Tunisian dinars ($2.96 billion) in external financing in 2020 and plans to issue bonds up to 800 million euros ($874.24 million) of debt, a senior official told Reuters. “Initially, there is a plan to ask parliament for approval to issue bonds worth up to 800 million euros next year,” the official said. It was too early to determine the timing and exact value of the bonds, the official added. In July Tunisia has sold a seven-year, euro-denominated bond worth 700 million euros at an interest…

ISESCO document on digital culture proposes to create search engine for Islamic world

The ISESCO Guidance Document on “Digital Culture: Opportunities and Challenges”, adopted by the 11th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, which was hosted by Tunisia on December 17 and 18 this year, proposed the creation of an electronic search engine for the Islamic world, to highlight its cultural production and information materials, and facilitate its circulation at the global level and within the specialized departments. The document deals with three axes, the first of which is the definition of digital culture and its history, the second is the challenges and prospects…

Tunisia is a booming tourist hot spot for Russians on a budget

From January to November 2019, approximately 632,000 Russian holidaymakers have visited Tunisia. About 3000 are expected to do so before the end of December. This is a 5% increase in numbers from last year, eturbonews reports. According to the head of the Tunisian national tourism office, approximately 9 million foreign citizens will have arrived in Tunisia by the end of the year. Russia ranks second in the number of citizens visiting Tunisia. France comes first. Germany comes third, the same source said. Typically, the Russians go on holiday to Tunisia for…

IHG plans Tunisia debut and Egypt expansion amid recovery of tourism sector

The global hotel group is scheduled to add 48 properties to its Mena portfolio over the next three to five years Intercontinental Hotels Group, the owner of Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, is weighing opportunities to enter Tunisia and further expand in Egypt as tourism in Tunisia recovers, the National reports. Talks are underway to rebrand some of the local hotels in Tunisia to its Indigo, Holiday Inn and Intercontinental brands, though no timeline is set for the company’s debut, Matthew Tripolone, IHG vice president of development in the…

SWISS will be flying to Djerba as part of Geneva Expansion in summer 2020

Zurich (ZRH) based Swiss International Air Lines, or simply SWISS will be flying to Djerba-Zarzis International Airport (DJE) from Geneva every Saturday between the 4th of July and the 29th of August. SWISS has announced six new destinations from its focus city of Geneva (GVA) for summer 2020. Formed after the bankruptcy of Swissair, the Basel Mulhouse Freiburg headquartered airline is a part of the Lufthansa Group and is a member of the Star Alliance. Starting on June 22nd SWISS will be flying from Geneva to Rhodes (Greece), Djerba (Tunisia), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Menorca (Spain), Antalya…

Together we collect caps of love

“Together we collect caps of love” is an initiative set up by a group of young people in the different regions and governorates of Tunisia. The goal of this initiative is to collect plastic bottle caps and turn them into funds for the needy. In addition, you can turn your caps into treasure or recycle them so they avoid filling the landfill and harm our eco-system. It also aims to recover and recycle caps from plastic bottles in order to provide them with a new application by specifically buying them…

CIFF President makes US VARIETY’S most influential media figures list

US magazine “Variety” has announced its annual list of the 500 most influential personalities who make up the media and entertainment industry in the world.  Among these figures were Egyptian producer and scriptwriter Mohamed Hefzy, president of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), and businessman Naguib Sawiris, founder of the El Gouna Film Festival. The list is chosen by the magazine’s editorial board, which conducts extensive research of its choices, to reflect the achievements of the 500 personalities over the past 12 months. The list includes a number of prominent…

ISESCO to renovate house of Scholar Ibn Khaldoun in Tunisia

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) launched an initiative to renovate the house of the scholar Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldoun in the centre of Tunis, as part of its new vision and future strategy, which adopts the protection and preservation of heritage in the Islamic world countries. Dr Salem bin Mohammed Al-Malik, Director-General of ISESCO, announced the initiative during his speech at the closing ceremony of the 2019 Tunis Capital of Islamic Culture event, which was held in the city of Culture in the Tunisian capital on Thursday…

AMEA Power, TBEA unveil 100-MW solar award in Kairouan, Tunisia

The consortium formed by TBEA Xinjiang New Energy Co Ltd and Dubai-based AMEA Power has won a 100-MW solar project in Tunisia after participating in an international tender, Renewables Now reported on Thursday. The two companies will build the solar power plant at a site in Kairouan and, upon completion, will sell its generated electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG), the same source said. AMEA Power noted that in this particular solar tender, the Ministry of Industry and SMEs awarded…

Tunisie Telecom, Tunisair sign data safety partnership agreement

A partnership agreement in data safety was signed on Wednesday by Tunisair CEO Elyes Mnakbi and Tunisie Telecom CEO Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem. Under this agreement, Tunisie Telecom operator will provide national carrier Tunisair with a backup website in its Carthage Data Centre, the national carrier said in a statement issued on Thursday. The partnership between Tunisair Tunisie Telecom aims to ensure the continuity and availability of its data and critical business applications on another backup website for ensuring the resumption of activities in a very limited timeframe in the event…