During his official visit to Tunisia, His Excellency the Secretary General was received by His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Hachani, the Head of Government, and the Honourable Minister of Trade and Export Development Mrs Kalthoum Ben Rjeb.

It was an opportunity to commend the Tunisian government on its efforts to implement the AfCFTA Agreement, particularly Tunisia’s participation in the Guided Trade Initiative. The discussions focused on the priority activities that could help Tunisia implement the agreement in the most beneficial way.

The Secretary-General was pleased to learn about Tunisia’s progress in implementing the GTI, noting the issuance of 93 AfCFTA Certificates of Origin to Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, and Tanzania since the launch of the initiative. He commended Tunisia’s willingness to buy African products under the AfCFTA agreement, as well as its commitment to facilitating increased supply from African countries.

Special attention was paid to the project aimed at upgrading and modernizing the “Ras Jedir” Border Post on the Tunisian-Libyan border. Both parties agreed that they will combine efforts to raise the required funds to support this initiative, which will provide landlocked countries such as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Central Africa with direct access to the Mediterranean.

Key areas of focus will be Automotives, Pharmaceuticals, Trade Facilitation and Private sector engagement.