Year: 2022

Seven attempts to cross Mediterranean towards Italian coast foiled

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A total of 81 illegal immigrants, including three women, were arrested late Monday night by coast guard units off the coast of Nabeul, in northeastern Tunisia, TAP reported Wednesday. Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe. Although the Tunisian authorities have adopted stringent measures to tackle the problem, attempts to smuggle people from Tunisia to Italy are on the rise. TunisianMonitorOnline

Who is Joey Hood, new US ambassador to Tunisia?

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Proposed last May by President Joe Biden, the United States Senate confirmed, after a vote on December 21, the appointment of Joey Hood as the new U.S. ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood replaces Donald Blome whose mission in Tunisia has come to an end. Hood was until 15 April this year Antony Blinken’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. He has spent most of his career in the Middle East where he was Chief of Mission in Iraq and Kuwait, Consul General in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia,…

AfDB approves total $37million loans for Kairouan solar plant in Tunisia

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The project entails the design, construction, and operation of a greenfield solar photovoltaic (PV) plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts under a Build, Own and Operate (BOO) scheme. The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $27 million and €10 million loan package to co-finance the construction of a 100-megawatt Solar power plant in Kairouan, Tunisia. The Board approval covers $10 million and another €10 million from the Bank, and $17 million concessional financing from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a special multi-donor fund managed…

Archaeology: 22nd Congress of Roman Africa in Tunisia

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Some 200 experts from all over the world, specialised in the different declinations of Roman epigraphy, participated in Sbeïtla, Tunisia, in the 22nd International Congress ‘Roman Africa’, dedicated this year to the theme “Ancient Africa from the Republican Age to Giulio-Claudii” with a special session on new epigraphic discoveries. To mark the event, visits to archaeological sites were organised, as well as book presentations, shows and exhibitions with the aim of promoting knowledge of the history of ancient Roman Africa. Researchers from both sides of the Mediterranean, from Algeria, Morocco,…

Media incubation project MEDIA LOVES TECH awards the best projects of 2022

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MEDIA LOVES TECH supports new digital tools for media in the Maghreb. The incubation program helps journalists combine high-potential reporting with emerging technology to make storytelling more efficient and effective. This year’s grand prize of €10,000 went to MOOM, a Tunisian digital media platform geared to expectant mothers and young parents, offering them factual information and useful tips for navigating pregnancy and early childhood.  “MOOM fills a gap in Tunisia by addressing a target group looking for reliable information and ignoring existing taboos in Tunisian society about pregnancy and parenthood,”…

Tunisia obtains loan to strengthen food security and electricity supply

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a 220 million euro (US$233 million) loan for Tunisia to strengthen its food security and electricity supply, the Tunisian economy and planning ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Two financing agreements were signed in the capital Tunis between Samir Saied, Minister of Economy and Planning, and Lionel Rapaille, director of lending operations in the EU’s neighbouring countries at the EIB, according to the statement. The first agreement of €150 million was signed to improve food security in Tunisia, the statement added. Rapaille…

Eni starts production at Tunisia Solar Power Facility

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Eni SpA E has announced that it has started production of its solar photovoltaic plant in Tataouine, Tunisia, after connecting to the national grid. The solar photovoltaic plant has an installed capacity of 10 megawatts (MW). It is expected to supply more than 20 gigawatt hours (“GWh”) of energy to Tunisia’s national grid per year. In addition, the facility will eliminate 211,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime. The solar power plant was manufactured by Société Energie Renouvelables Eni Etap, a joint venture between Eni and Entreprise Tunisienne…

WB report on Tunisia’s Jobs Landscape

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The World Bank report “Tunisia’s Jobs Landscape” describes trends in growth, productivity, demography, employment, and living standards to inform the analysis of labour supply and labour demand carried out. It starts by depicting aggregate trends in economic growth and living standards of the Tunisian population, the drivers of growth (e.g., remittances and migration, FDI, exchange rate, productivity, etc.), and broad structural changes in terms of job creation and labour productivity growth. Then, the report provides an overview of the composition of the labour market and how it has changed over…

Palestinian film “Alam” wins top award at Cairo Int’l Film Festival

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Palestinian film Alam, directed by Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury and co-funded by producers from France, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, won the top Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) concluded here on Tuesday evening. The feature, which won the top prize in the 14-film International Competition, tells the story of five Palestinian high-school classmates who live in Israel and struggle under the weight of being forced to forget their own history. French producer Naomie Lagadec, who received the Golden Pyramid on…

Hajj Ministry: Smartphonebiometrics for issuing Umrah visa for 5 countries

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The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that it has granted permission to register vital features of biometrics on smartphones to issue online Umrah visas for those coming from five countries. The beneficiaries of this service include pilgrims from the United Kingdom, Tunisia, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Bangladesh, the ministry said in a statement. The procedures for the issuance of Umrah visas electronically will be completed based on biometrics prior to their arrival in Makkah and Madinah. The decision comes as part of the efforts by all government sectors to facilitate…