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TUNISIA

Tunis tries to defuse its debt bomb to avoid going into default

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“Debt diplomacy”

AFRICA

Debt diplomacy

Because the fight to contain it has involved the use of public funds, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of debt throughout Africa, forcing countries to seek a moratorium from the G20 and bring in consultants to help them negotiate with their sovereign, private sector and institutional creditors. In the West, the growth of African countries' debt has led to fierce competition between private and public sector creditors to obtain repayment of their debts. China is also involved but has shown little inclination so far to reschedule African countries' debts. [...]

Tunisia, which has been given an official warning by the IMF and had its credit status downgraded by the ratings agencies, is struggling to cope with an external debt which currently stands at close to 100% of its GDP and is weighing heavily on its finances. With just two months to go to the expiry of the IMF's five-year plan for the country, which, in the absence of structural reform, has only yielded half of the funding it was supposed to, the Tunisian government has gone into battle order to try to come up with a solution. We look here at its chances of beating the clock. [...] (1204 words)

Issue dated 29/03/2021 Reading time 5 minutes

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Politics

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TUNISIA
African Development Bank
Ali Kooli
Banque internationale arabe de Tunisie
Ben Ali
Central Bank of Tunisia
CNRPS
CNSS
Donald Kaberuka
ENI
Hichem Mechichi
International Monetary Fund
Kaïs Saïed
Khaled Chelly
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
Lazard
Lionel Zinsou
London Club
Marouane Mabrouk
Moody's
Olfa Hamdi
Paris Club
Pharmacie centrale de Tunisie
Rothschild
Saudi Development Fund
Shell
SNDP
Sonede
Southbridge
STEG
TAV
Tunisair
World Bank

IDB throws its weight behind Tunis's African exports drive

Tunisia is being shunned by most major international lenders, but it can still rely on the Islamic Development Bank, which continues to back projects in the country. The institution, whose largest single contributor is Saudi Arabia, intends to push trade development with the rest of the continent. [...]

TUNISIA Energy 01/11/2021

Shell may be reluctantly involved in ENI sale

British-Dutch major Shell may indirectly invest back in Tunisia after announcing its withdrawal from the country. Petronor has contacted Shell Trading in search of financing to acquire ENI's Tunisian assets. [...]

JAPAN AFRICA Diplomacy 01/11/2021

Tokyo gets set for its Japan-Africa summit

Japan's foreign affairs minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold a meeting with more than 20 African foreign ministers on 6 and 7 November. The talks, which will take place remotely, should allow Tokyo to give a broad outline of its Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled for the first half of 2022 [. [...]

TUNISIA Business 31/08/2021

Tunis goes quiet as IMF aims to resume talks

The Bretton Woods lender hopes to begin talks over a new loan next month, but the Tunisian government has held no preparatory meetings and continues to take on new debt from commercial banks. [...]

TUNISIA Diplomacy 25/08/2021

Even in the absence of a government, GIZ launches a public service reform programme

In early August, German development agency GIZ issued a tender call for a 20-month reform of the Tunisian public services. [...]

Spotlight

UNITED STATES SUDAN Business 26/07/2021

USAID gets off to inauspicious start in tackling Sudan's debt

With the United States, France and the United Kingdom all vying to become the partner of choice of the new regime in Sudan, the American development agency USAID, which was to select and finance an advisory bank to assist Sudan in restructuring its debt, has fluffed its lines and the tender call currently remains in limbo. [...]

TUNISIA Energy 24/05/2021

Shell tries to pressure the government into a new agreement on Miskar

With the country in a difficult social situation, Shell is pulling out all the stops to get the Tunisian government to extend its permit on the field ahead of its projected departure from the country in July 2022. [...]

TUNISIA Diplomacy 17/05/2021

Saïed in Paris for frank talks about debt, OIF summit with Macron

The French president has put pressure on his Tunisian counterpart by inviting him to Paris on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the summit on African economies. This trip was decided at the last moment because of concerns about Tunisia's financial situation. [...]

Kaïs Saïed and Emmanuel Macron during a meeting at the Elysée in June 2020. © Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

TUNISIA Diplomacy 12/05/2021

KfW wonders if regional banking project will ever see the light of day

The German development bank has invested several million euros in a new regional banking structure since 2013. Eight years later, it is nowhere close to becoming a reality. [...]

QATAR TUNISIA Finance Diplomacy 22/04/2021

No helping hand from Emir Al-Thani ahead of Tunisia's fraught IMF meet

Finance minister Ali Kooli's attempt to negotiate a new loan from the Qatar National Bank, with the backing of the Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, floundered when Doha set the interest rate at 5.5%. [...]

TUNISIA Business 20/04/2021

Mechichi talks with Dominique Strauss-Kahn ahead of crunch IMF meet

With Tunisia on the verge of default, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has begun talks with Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the hope that the former IMF chief will help him persuade the institution to resume its financial support. [...]

Tunisia Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. © Mohamed Messara/EFE/Newscom/MaxPPP

TUNISIA Diplomacy 13/04/2021

Pressured by Macron, Saïed reluctantly cranks up OIF summit preparations

The Tunisian head of state has only seven months left to organise the 50th anniversary of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, an event that has been far from a prime concern of his. Ongoing health restrictions and the choice to hold it on the ill-equipped Djerba Island are not making things easier. [...]

Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris in June 2020. © Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

CAPE VERDE Finance Business 01/04/2021

Government looks to Caixa Geral de Depositos to restructure its debt

As Cape Verde struggles to pay off its creditors, the government led by PM Ulisses Correia is banking on the latest IMF report to allow it to contract new loans. [...]

Cape Verde Prime Minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva. © Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

TUNISIA Energy 10/03/2021

ENI, Shell, CNPC, and Kufpec all jump ship as one

With only modest Tunisian reserves to their name and weary of an increasingly difficult political climate, the oil firms have decided to pack their bags and put their assets up for sale. [...]

Mohamed Bousaid, Tunisian trade minister and acting energy minister, must face the likely departures of major companies. © Assemblée des Représentants du Peuple/Facebook

TUNISIA Finance Business 04/03/2021

Mabrouk brothers, financial backers to the state with BIAT

Without Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT), co-owned by Mohamed Ali, Ismaïl and Marouane Mabrouk, finance minister Ali Kooli would not have been able to balance his budget. At the same time, Marouane Mabrouk wants to close the chapter on the seizure of his 51% share in Orange Tunisie. [...]

Spotlight

AFRICA Finance Business 27/10/2020

World Bank agonises over choice of new CEO for International Finance Corporation

Four months after the departure of Frenchman Philippe Le Houérou, who had been head of the International Finance Corporation since 2016, World Bank president David Malpass has still not found a new chief executive for the private sector lending institution. [...]

WEST AFRICA Finance Politics 16/04/2020

African bankers Thiam, Kaberuka, Onkojo-Iwelea reinvent themselves as debt reduction crusaders

In a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a small group of financiers are lobbying intensely to get holders of African eurobonds to postpone their redemption dates for two years. The campaign is as advantageous for those waging it, however, as it is for its potential beneficiaries. [...]

Receive free prompts for these topics

TUNISIA
African Development Bank
Ali Kooli
Banque internationale arabe de Tunisie
Ben Ali
Central Bank of Tunisia
CNRPS
CNSS
Donald Kaberuka
ENI
Hichem Mechichi
International Monetary Fund
Kaïs Saïed
Khaled Chelly
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
Lazard
Lionel Zinsou
London Club
Marouane Mabrouk
Moody's
Olfa Hamdi
Paris Club
Pharmacie centrale de Tunisie
Rothschild
Saudi Development Fund
Shell
SNDP
Sonede
Southbridge
STEG
TAV
Tunisair
World Bank

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Tunis tries to defuse its debt bomb to avoid going into default

Debt diplomacy

This article may be accessed by subscribers and e-wallet holders (USD 31)

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Receive free prompts for these topics

IDB throws its weight behind Tunis's African exports drive

Shell may be reluctantly involved in ENI sale

Tokyo gets set for its Japan-Africa summit

Tunis goes quiet as IMF aims to resume talks

Even in the absence of a government, GIZ launches a public service reform programme

USAID gets off to inauspicious start in tackling Sudan's debt

Shell tries to pressure the government into a new agreement on Miskar

Saïed in Paris for frank talks about debt, OIF summit with Macron

KfW wonders if regional banking project will ever see the light of day

No helping hand from Emir Al-Thani ahead of Tunisia's fraught IMF meet

Mechichi talks with Dominique Strauss-Kahn ahead of crunch IMF meet

Pressured by Macron, Saïed reluctantly cranks up OIF summit preparations

Government looks to Caixa Geral de Depositos to restructure its debt

ENI, Shell, CNPC, and Kufpec all jump ship as one

Mabrouk brothers, financial backers to the state with BIAT

World Bank agonises over choice of new CEO for International Finance Corporation

African bankers Thiam, Kaberuka, Onkojo-Iwelea reinvent themselves as debt reduction crusaders

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Tunis tries to defuse its debt bomb to avoid going into default

Debt diplomacy

This article may be accessed by subscribers and e-wallet holders (USD 31)

2 options offered to continue reading

Create your free account

create a free account

Receive free prompts for these topics

IDB throws its weight behind Tunis's African exports drive

Shell may be reluctantly involved in ENI sale

Tokyo gets set for its Japan-Africa summit

Tunis goes quiet as IMF aims to resume talks

Even in the absence of a government, GIZ launches a public service reform programme

USAID gets off to inauspicious start in tackling Sudan's debt

Shell tries to pressure the government into a new agreement on Miskar

Saïed in Paris for frank talks about debt, OIF summit with Macron

KfW wonders if regional banking project will ever see the light of day

No helping hand from Emir Al-Thani ahead of Tunisia's fraught IMF meet

Mechichi talks with Dominique Strauss-Kahn ahead of crunch IMF meet

Pressured by Macron, Saïed reluctantly cranks up OIF summit preparations

Government looks to Caixa Geral de Depositos to restructure its debt

ENI, Shell, CNPC, and Kufpec all jump ship as one

Mabrouk brothers, financial backers to the state with BIAT

World Bank agonises over choice of new CEO for International Finance Corporation

African bankers Thiam, Kaberuka, Onkojo-Iwelea reinvent themselves as debt reduction crusaders

Receive free prompts for these topics

First visit

Contacts

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Follow us

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Indigo Publications also publishes: