Month: May 2017

Palmizi sculpture inaugurated on Tunisian quayside

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The sculpture ‘Mare Nostrum’ by Italian architect Girolamo Palmizi has been installed on the quayside between Nabeul and Hammamet. The work is intended to be a symbolic bridge between Tunisia and Sicily and is twinned with a work by the same artist on the northern shore of the Mediterranean in Biscione between the Sicilian coastal towns of Marsala and Mazara del Vallo, where it won the 2015 international prize “Oasi d’arte – Art’s Oasis”. Palmizi recently led a ceramics workshop for students from the school of arts and crafts in…

A Positive Step on a Rocky Road: Tunisia signs up to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

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As Tunisia becomes the first North African country to allow full access to the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, Oliver Windridge, founder of The ACtHPR Monitor, discusses the challenges the Court has faced since its inception. An air of optimism pervades the African human rights community following the recent news that Tunisia has become only the eighth African Union member state to allow individuals and NGOs direct access to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court). Based in Arusha, Tanzania, the African Court has jurisdiction…

Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia to discuss Libyan crisis in Algiers

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The Libyan crisis will be on the agenda of a meeting in Algeria in June, with the participation of foreign ministers of Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, spokesperson of Algerian Foreign Ministry, Abdelaziz Benali Cherif, said in a statement on Sunday. “The upcoming meeting is part of continuous consultations between Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt over the crisis hitting Libya since 2011. Foreign ministers of the three nations are due to meet in Algiers to assess the political and security developments there,” noted Benali Cherif. He added that the ministers will also…

US mulls ban on carrying laptop computers on international flights

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In March, Britain took similar measures targeting a smaller list of countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. United States (US) Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Sunday that he was considering banning laptop computers on international flights into and out of the country, amid signs of “a real threat.” Kelly made his remarks during the Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest travel periods in the US, and at a time when the bombing at a concert in Manchester, England has raised concerns that further attacks —…

Switzerland returns millions linked to ex-leader to Tunisia

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 Switzerland is transferring $3.9m to Tunisia that had been frozen in connection with a close relative of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ordered the transfer on Friday in response to a request from Tunisia. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs says the assets were being sent back with the relative’s consent. Tunisian authorities will determine what to do with the assets.  Switzerland in 2011 froze the assets held there by the toppled Tunisian president and his entourage to prevent…

Tourism Campaigns in Tunisia Worth $9 Mn

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Tunisia – The Tunisian Ministry of Tourism is preparing to launch campaigns to promote tourism in most European markets by the end of June 2017, with a budget of 23.7 Million Dinars (MD) (approximately $9 million). A presentation on the preparations for the tourist season 2017 presented at a Cabinet meeting held on May 19, stated that the promotion campaign was organized on the Algerian market, during the first ten days of May with a budget of one million dinars. The data provided by the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism showed…

G7 leaders turn to discussion of Africa, with Italy desperate to stem migrant exodus across Mediterranean

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The leaders of G7 nations turned their attention to Africa on Saturday, with Italy, the host nation, calling for massive investment in the continent to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. But there was concern among analysts and aid organisations that the heads of state would lack the resolve to make any serious commitment to lifting African countries out of poverty. Providing greater assistance to Africa to persuade potential migrants to stay at home rather than make the dangerous journey to Libya and across the Mediterranean is an…

UK’s Petrofac resumes Tunisia gas production

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British energy firm Petrofac has resumed production at gas plant in Tunisia after a stoppage that lasted several months, the company and a trade union said on Saturday. “Yesterday (Friday) natural gas was brought by pipeline to Sfax” from the Chergui field operated by Petrofac, Abdelhadi Ben Jemaa, secretary general of the powerful UGTT trade union in second city Sfax, told AFP. Petrofac confirmed that work had resumed at the Chergui gas field concession on Kerkennah island in southeast Tunisia. “Yes, we have recently resumed,” a spokesperon for the energy…

Tunisia’s Exports to EU Fall Despite Increased Duty-Free Quotas

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Supplementary duty-free import quotas granted by the EU in 2016 have not resulted in an increase in Tunisian olive oil exports to the EU. According to the Tunisian Economic Observatory (an independent organization of researchers, analysts, and activists), Tunisia has not been able to benefit from the increased duty-free import quotas granted by the EU in 2016. On April 21, 2017, the Observatory published an article, Export of Tunisian Olive Oil: The Reality of EU Support, on its website highlighting the fact that the proposed EU support has not materialized…

Tunisia confiscates property of businessmen arrested for graft

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The Tunisian government has confiscated the property and frozen bank accounts of eight prominent businessmen arrested this week on suspicion of corruption in an unprecedented government campaign against graft, authorities said on Friday. Tunisia has been praised as a model of transition after its 2011 revolution. But it still struggles with economic reforms and corruption six years after the fall of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in protests triggered in part by official graft. Mounir Ferchichi, head of the Confiscation Committee, a state-financed agency, told reporters the government had…