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

Tunisia cover image

Tunisia

April 19, 2025

Tunis 5:59 pm

25°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

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

This photo shows the interior of El-Ghriba synagogue, the oldest Jewish monument built in Africa, on the first day of the annual pilgrimage, Djerba island, Tunisia, April 26, 2021.

Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisian island stirs calls for criminalizing normalization with Israel

The annual Jewish pilgrimage to El-Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia has rekindled the popular and political debate over the issuance of a law criminalizing normalization with Israel.

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia plays a forehand.

Women’s Tennis Association adds tournament in Tunisia following Ons Jabeur’s success

Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur is quickly becoming one of the top competitors in the sport.

Tunisia

Tunisia’s president to establish 'new republic' amid fear of new dictatorship

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has announced plans for a new constitution and a different system of government, which raises concerns among political and human rights circles about the possibility of imposing a dictatorship in the country.

People walk past Saint-Vincent de Paul Cathedral on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis on Dec. 14, 2021.

International pressure compounds Tunisian economic crisis

There are international and local concerns over the political and economic situation in Tunisia, which is hoping for a deal with the IMF in return for implementing reforms that are rejected by the powerful UGTT labor union.

A man places a copy of the Tunisian Constitution atop a Tunisian national flag.

Tunisian president grants himself power to appoint election authority

The presidential decree to revise the law of the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia and change its composition is facing widespread criticism from opposition parties and organizations that accuse Tunisian President Kais Saied of granting himself wide powers that may affect the course of democracy.

Tunisians raise national flags as they take to the streets of the capital to protest against their president, Tunis, Tunisia, April 10, 2022.

Political crisis in Tunisia reflected in the streets

The battle for power between Tunisian President Kais Saied and the parliament headed by Rashid Ghannouchi is escalating and has moved to the street.

Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) arrives with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan’s statements shake Tunisian-Turkish ties

Diplomatic and economic relations between Tunisia and Turkey are at stake in the wake of statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following President Kais Saied’s decision to dissolve parliament.

Tunisian protesters raise placards and national flags during a demonstration against their president, not far from the Tunisian Assembly (parliament) headquarters, in the capital Tunis, on March 20, 2022.

House Democrats push Biden administration on Tunisia's democratic backslide

The lawmakers called on the Biden administration to promote good governance initiatives in the North African country.

ANIS MILI/AFP via Getty Images

Fitch downgrades Tunisia’s debt rating

The assessment from the leading credit agency is based on the Tunisian government’s high deficit and the political instability brought on by the president power grab last year, among other things.

Tunisia

Biden urged to put strings on Tunisia aid amid democratic backslide

A letter from some 50 activists, academics and former diplomats calls for the Biden administration to condition certain assistance to Tunisia on steps toward democratic governance.

Egypt fintech

Regional entrepreneurs say Middle East well-suited for fintech growth

An Atlantic Council event highlighted how fintech can help traditional financial networks and professions in Egypt, Tunisia, and the Gulf.

Tunisia court

US voices concern after Tunisia's Saied disbands judicial watchdog

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US was "deeply concerned" by Tunisian President Kais Saied's move to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council.