2nd Tunisian-British Trade and Investment Forum to be held in London next October 22

The Tunisian Embassy in London and the Tunisian-British Chamber of Commerce (TBCC) are organizing the “2nd Tunisian-British Trade and Investment Forum” in London on 22 October 2019. The second edition of this Forum, which will become the main annual Tunisian-British economic event, will feature the participation as a guest of honour of Mr Marouane Abassi, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, as well as the presence of British political leaders, and representatives of economic institutions and business circles from Tunisia and the United Kingdom. On this occasion, a TBCC…

IFC invests $1 million in Anava Seed Fund to back up SMEs

Tunisian startup accelerator and early-stage fund Anava Seed Fund will receive an equity investment of $1 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), stemming from the World Bank. Half of the money is being provided by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), a partnership among governments, multilateral development banks, and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group. We-Fi supports women entrepreneurs in developing countries by building their capacity, scaling up access to financial products and services, and providing links with global markets, menabytes reports. The new…

Tunisia tops Arab and African countries in social progress

Tunisia was ranked 51st, among 149 states, in terms of social progress, according to the Social Progress Index (SPI) published by the “Social Progress Imperative.” Tunisia topped Arab countries, scoring 72.33 points out of 100, outrunning the United Arab Emirates (61), Jordan (63), Qatar (64), the Sultanate of Oman (66), Turkey (71), Algeria (79), Morocco (82), Saudi Arabia (90) and Egypt (96). Tunisia also led African countries, including South Africa (73). Norway came first in the SPI report with 90.95 points, followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden. The social…

Cooperation agreement between Cairo Film Festival and the IREAD Initiative

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) announces the signing of a cooperation protocol with iRead Writing Initiative, as part of its 41st edition, to be held from 20 to 29 November. The protocol was signed by Mohamed Hefzy, President of the CIFF, writer Cherine Rachid, head of the iRead Initiative. Angie Sabban, CEO of Victory Link, iRead’s partner, revealed that on the basis of this cooperation protocol, a competition will be launched under the name of iRead Awards and the names of the winners will be announced during a major…

“Education for Employment (EFE)–Al-Najah Tunisia” project launched

The “Education for Employment (EFE)–Al-Najah Tunisia,” between the Tunisian network of the Higher Institutes of Technological Studies (ISET) and the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) organisation, was officially launched at a ceremony held Friday in Tunis. The four-year project EFE–Al-Najah Tunisia programme (2019-2023) is funded by the Canadian government with 12 million Tunisian dinars and achieved by the CICan organisation in collaboration with the 25ISETs network. The objective of this project aims to contribute to the growth of youths’ economic empowerment in Tunisia, especially of women from rural areas. CICan…

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL EXPANDS ARAB CINEMA PROGRAMME

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) management has decided to expand the Horizons of Arab Cinema Horizons. This new step is to support and highlight Arab cinema, which has been experiencing a remarkable leap in recent years that resulted in its being represented in major international festivals, CIIF website reports. CIFF management has announced that, as per the festival’s advisory board recommendations, this expansion will take place through three decisions: raising the number of films from 8 to 12; introducing two new awards to be given to the best non-fiction…

IFC OPENS CONSULTATIONS TO DEVELOP TUNISIA’S GREEN BOND MARKET

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Tunisia’s Financial Market Council have kicked off a series of consultations to develop guiding principles for a green bond market in the country. This comes after reports surfaced of authorities seeking to introduce environmentally related products into the capital market, venturesafrica reports in an article. Similar to traditional corporate and public treasury bonds, green bonds have an additional social and sustainable feature of allowing the financing of climate change projects with positive social spin-offs. The sustainable finance instrument was introduced some ten years ago. Over the years, trading in…

Healthy Diet and Green Spaces in Municipality of Tunis project launches

Healthy Diet and Green Spaces in the Municipality of Tunis project launched as part of a workshop held on September 23-25 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in cooperation with the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (French: INNTA), TAP reports. This pilot project, to be carried out in collaboration with the municipality of Tunis, is financed by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the same source said. It is meant to improve food security in urban areas by means of fostering the role of the municipality…

First Tunisian nano-satellite to be launched in July 2020 says Frikha

The first Tunisian nano-satellite will be launched in July 2020 by the Russian rocket Soyuz _2 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (International spaceport located in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to Russia), TELNET group CEO Mohamed Frikha announced on Thursday. The satellite’s cost is 1 million dinars (MD), while the cost price in the market is estimated at 5 MD, Frikha said as he presented the Group’s financial statement at the headquarters of the Stock Exchange. “We have managed to control the cost thanks to the group’s technological resources, which…

Tunisia to begin trade with COMESA member States by late 2019

Tunisia will begin its trade with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member States by late 2019, Trade Minister Omar Behi said Wednesday at a high-level workshop on the practicalities for Tunisia’s adherence to the COMESA. He noted that a list of products to be exported towards the COMESA is under preparation by a committee gathering the private sector and the different representatives of the concerned Tunisian ministries. This list that includes a variety of agricultural, processed and industrial products will be sent to the COMESA in…