Tunisia - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Tunisia cover image

Tunisia

May 5, 2025

Tunis 12:00 am

18°C

Algerian People's National Council

Iran sends senior delegation to Algeria, Tunisia as relations warm

This week, a high-level Iranian delegation is visiting Algeria and Tunisia for talks with senior officials from both North African countries.

Tunisia's president, Kais Saied, attends his swearing-in ceremony before the National Assembly in Tunis on Oct. 21, 2024.

Analysis

As Saied begins new term as president, Tunisians brace for unstable governance

In a second presidential term, Tunisia’s increasingly autocratic ruler is unlikely to secure the political and economic stability the country craves.

Francisco Serrano

By Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Inside a warehouse used by Jumia.

Analysis

Tunisia risks missing e-commerce boom as Jumia exits, startup investment lags

Despite efforts to build Tunisia's digital economy, the North African country still presents challenges for global e-commerce, impacting growth prospects for new products and services.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur drops out of 2024 tennis circuit

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, currently ranked 22nd in the Women's Tennis Association, will step away from tennis until 2025 as she recovers from a shoulder injury.

Latest News

Tunisians head to streets in protest as election nears

FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images

At Africa summit, China elevates ties with Libya, invests $14M in Egypt

China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang (C) delivers his speech.

Tunisia’s green hydrogen strategy will need domestic stakeholders

Solar pannels cover the rooftops of the buildings of the Makhtar boarding school on September 29, 2022, in the Tunisian central-west region of the same name. - The Makthar boarding school, a unique business initiative is both generating income and opening pupils' minds to the outside world. Lotfi Hamadi, founder of the NGO "Wallah (Swear to God) We Can", is hoping that helping schools boost their resources through food and energy production can breathe new life into Tunisia's failing, cash-strapped educatio

Analysis

As Europe's far right surges, North Africa immigration takes center stage

Migrants from Tunisia and Lybia arrive onboard of an Italian Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) boat in the Italian Pelagie Island of Lampedusa on Aug. 1, 2020.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

(L-R) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi wave hands during the group photo session, a head of the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries, on the sideline of the 2017 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian Province on Sept. 5, 2017.

Al-Monitor/Premise poll finds Biden's unpopularity in Mideast makes room for China, Russia to outshine US

Washington’s influence remains potent despite its perceived disengagement from the Middle East, but Russia and China are eagerly finding gaps to fill.

A picture taken on Sept. 17, 2021, shows people queuing to cross into Tunisia through the Libyan Ras Jdeir border crossing.

What’s behind Libya-Tunisia border closure?

Tunisia closed the troubled Ras Jdir crossing following a security incident. Tunisia and Libya are facing a crisis over migrants seeking to reach Europe.

A picture taken on April 14, 2015 shows a view of a plant processing phosphates in the port of the Tunisian southern city of Sfax. / AFP / FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia’s phosphate industry still not ready to help country navigate economic crisis

Francisco Serrano

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Ons Kayanee

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reps Saudi fitness brand Kayanee at Australian Open

Jabeur has expressed support for Saudi investment in tennis in the past as the kingdom seeks to boost its sports holdings.

Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe, disembark in Sfax from a ship owned by the Tunisian coast guards, after being intercepted by them at sea on August 10, 2023.

Migrants face 'daily institutional violence' in Tunisia: NGO

Agence France-Presse

Cargo ships unload imported goods in the Tunisian port city of Rades on November 12, 2014. The World Bank said in a report published last September that Tunisia's economic model of manufacturing for exports and protecting the domestic market was valid in the 1970s but since then had hindered progress. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia-EU economic links to prevail over political tensions

Francisco Serrano

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

TABA, EGYPT: Beach resorts close to the Egyptian Taba Hilton (background-R) remain empty 11 October 2004, four days after three attacks targeted this well-known hotel in the Sinai peninsula next to the Israeli border and another two minor resorts, killing at least 32 people and causing the exodus of thousands of Israeli tourists from the area called the Egyptian Riviera. Israel's resort of Eilat, close to the border with Egypt, is set for a boom as thousands of Israelis who regularly holiday in Sinai look e

Tourism tipping point: Middle East travel boom delivering economic boost as Israel-Hamas war threatens recovery

The outbreak of fighting between Israel and Hamas in October 2023 has undercut a fledgling tourism rebound in the Holy Land after years of struggle.

A Jewish man and a child walk through the Hara Kebira, the main Jewish quarter in the resort island of Djerba, near the Ghriba synagogue following a shooting spree by a police officer on the southern Tunisian island on May 10, 2023. Tunisian authorities were investigating the shootings that claimed five lives and sparked mass panic during a Jewish pilgrimage at Africa's oldest synagogue today. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia’s Jews on edge after crowd torches synagogue amid Gaza protests

History of heated rhetoric and reaction to Israel's war against Hamas may spill over to the small local Jewish population.

Migrant men wait to board a ship bound for Sicily from Lampedusa, Italy, April 22, 2015.

European Commission to send Tunisia $135M in aid to stem illegal migrants

The European Union and Tunisia had in July announced a ‘strategic partnership’ to boost Tunisia's economy and combat the spike in small boats leaving the North African nation for Europe.

King of Jordan

Highlights: Al-Monitor/Semafor Middle East Global Summit

The Al-Monitor & Semafor inaugural Middle East Global Summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings on Wednesday brought together the region’s leaders, newsmakers and business heads.

Putin Tebboune

Analysis

Russia pushes North African trade area as Ukraine sanctions bite

Russia's influence across North Africa is varied, but regional countries could benefit from discounted Russian hydrocarbons, grain and fertilizer.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

An employee works at a bakery selling baguettes in Tunis on August 7, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Head of Tunisia’s bakery owners union arrested amid bread crisis

President Kais Saied is targeting those he accuses of monopolizing flour amid an ongoing bread shortage.