Tunisia wants Nigeria to play pivotal role in development of Africa

The Tunisian President, Béji Caied Essebsi has called on Nigeria to play a pivotal role in the development of African continent while stressing the importance of developing a comprehensive and unified strategy to develop cooperation between African countries in all fields. According to a statement, speaking at the weekend when he received a Nigerian delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoferry Onyeama, he said the cooperation between Africans should not be limited, but cut across according economic aspects, security aspects and ways to crack down the phenomenon…

Trump Ends 20-Year Tradition of Celebrating Ramadan at White House

President Donald Trump has now officially become the first president in nearly two decades to not host an iftar dinner marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Instead of continuing with the tradition that began under President Bill Clinton, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump released a statement wishing “warm greetings to Muslims as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr.” Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims around the world abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until dusk. The annual White House dinners were typically…

TUNISIAN TOURISM RECOVERY – REVENUES FAR BEHIND

Although the Tunisian tourism recovery that started at the beginning of 2017 is real, the sector’s foreign currency earnings remain low to insignificant. “We are speaking about a recovery in tourism without seeing a similar increase in revenues,” said Chedly Ayari, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT). The Tunisian Hotel Federation (FTH) has just released the performance figures. The number of overnight stays has increased by 713 000 since the beginning of the year, but this increase is mainly due to the rise in overnight stays by Maghrebi…

Nigeria to strengthen economic ties with Tunisia

The federal government has expressed readiness to expand economic cooperation with Tunisia, Foreign Affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama has said. The minister, who led top government officials to the Federal Republic of Tunisia, stated this weekend at the Carthage Palace, where they were received by the country’s president, Béji Caied Essebsi. Onyeama, in a statement by his media aide, Sarah Sanda, said expanding trade ties with the North African country was to explore and benefit from investment opportunities in both countries. He stressed the need to raise cooperation between all African…

Corruption Crackdown Intensifies in Tunisia, and the People Cheer

The Tunisian prime minister has embarked on a sweeping crackdown against organized crime, arresting nearly a dozen mafia bosses and smuggling barons in recent weeks in an effort to stamp out what has become a nearly existential threat to the young democracy. The campaign, led by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, is proving popular among Tunisians frustrated at increasingly brazen corruption, a stagnating economy and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor. The drive has surprised nearly everyone for its vigor, but it is not without risks, as the mafia bosses…

Tunisia’s Slow but Persistent Path to Reform

Tunisia’s political reforms since the Arab Spring, though incomplete, have created consensus among the governing elite that trying to reform the current system is a better approach than trying to challenge it. As Tunisia’s government has moved on to implementing policy changes, internal divisions in the Nidaa Tounes party and its ruling coalition, which includes the Islamist party Ennahda, have paralyzed the process. Nevertheless, the country will keep pushing to decentralize the political system, reform the economy and fight corruption. The Arab Spring shook North Africa to its core. In…