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Tunisia

May 10, 2025

Tunis 10:45 pm

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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

Tunisia ends decadeslong agreement with France

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed decided to terminate an agreement with a French company exploiting sea salt, ending France’s monopoly over Tunisia’s salt market, which has been ongoing since the colonial era — but is this move part of an early electoral campaign?

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, touches down at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, April 9, 2016. The U.S. Air Force deployed B-52 bombers to Qatar on Saturday to join the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the first time they have been based in the Middle East since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Corey Hook/Handout via Reuters THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTE

Plan to charge allies for US troop presence carries risks for Americans in North Africa

US President Donald Trump’s reported plan to charge allies for US military bases could make it harder to protect diplomats and embassies throughout Africa.

Tunisia's Central Bank governor Marouane El Abassi arrives at a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia, February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RC1CFDF02380

Will latest interest rate hike break Tunisia’s back?

Following Tunisia's third interest rate hike in 12 months, economic and political experts sound the alarm on shrinking purchasing power while the nation's largest trade union calls for protests.

A sign is seen at the edge of Remada, Tunisia April 11, 2016. Tunisia's 2011 uprising created fertile ground for jihadist recruiters. Hundreds of Islamist militants were freed from prison as part of an amnesty for those detained under Ben Ali. Ultra-conservative salafists began to flex their muscle, seizing control of mosques and clashing with secularists. As Tunisia's politics have stabilised, the government has reasserted control, taking back mosques, banning the local al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al Sharia,

Intel: How latest beheading could signal jihadi comeback in Tunisia

Policemen in plain clothes force LGBT activists Radio Shams host, Fares Hadj Amor (C) and Femen's Amina Sboui into a vehicle as they disperse a protest in Tunis on January 27, 2018.
A call had been made to protest outside the tourism ministry under the hashtag "#Sayebni" ("Let me go") to demand the repeal of "retrograde" laws and the end of "the criminalisation of sexual freedom and discrimination against women". / AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

Tunisian man jailed for reporting rape highlights LGBT struggles

After reporting his rape this past January, a Tunisian man was jailed and sentenced to six months in prison, sparking anger in the LGBT community.

Tunisians celebrate landmark ruling against president

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has lost his legal case against a citizen, a decision being hailed as a first for civil rights progress there.

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows vehicles waiting near the Tunisian customs post at the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya, south of the town of Ben Guerdane, after it was reopened after a two-week closure in response to a deadly jihadist attack on a town near the frontier.
Both the Ras Jedir crossing on the Mediterranean coast and the Dehiba crossing in the mountainous desert interior reopened at 0600 GMT, ministry spokesman Yasser Mesbah said.Tunisia closed the two crossings on March 7 when doze

What fate awaits Tunisia's returning jihadis?

As one of the top countries of origin for foreign IS recruits, Tunisia has struggled to address domestic threats of returning jihadis and how to de-radicalize these youths.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita meets Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Morocco's capital Rabat, January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer - RC121B4F3DC0

Russia keeps plugging away at cooperation with North Africa

During his tour around the Maghreb, Foreign Minister Lavrov showed Russia has a genuine interest in developing stronger ties with regional states, but the number of roadblocks in the way raise questions about Moscow's ability to go past "strategic declarations" anytime soon.

Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, speaks during the movement's congress in Tunis, Tunisia May 20, 2016. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - S1BETFETVCAA

Interview

Democrat or Islamist firebrand — who is Tunisia's Rachid Ghannouchi?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party, discusses the forthcoming elections and how Ennahda has shaped post-revolution politics in Tunisia.

Rachid Ghannouchi

Rachid Ghannouchi

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party

Is Tunisia’s 92-year-old president mulling second term?

Nidaa Tounes recently announced its support for President Beiji Caid Essebsi to pursue a second term, a move that stirred controversy given his advanced age.

Tunisia’s democracy on life support as politicians squabble

Eight years after the Tunisian Revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, Tunisia's transition to democracy remains complex, unfulfilled and at risk.

Tunisian president under fire for alleged abuse of power

Ethics watchdogs are taking the Tunisian president to court, accusing him of corruption for ordering the release of a political ally who has served less than three months of a two-year sentence.