Tunisia: how to kick-start a divided economy The north African country should link its coast and interior by creating quality jobs for its well-educated youth Tunisia’s economic history is a tale of two territories: its coastal cities export mostly to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea; its farms on the dry central plains grow food for the local market. This split narrative led to the birth of the Arab spring in December 2010. A street vendor, 26-year-old Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in Tunisia’s central Sidi Bouzid governorate. His act was meant to draw attention to the interior’s high unemployment,…
Duncan Pickard
North Africa: complementary tones The region’s cash-heavy countries could harmonise with its productive economies The countries of north Africa trade less with each other, and invest less in each other’s economies than any other region in the world, according to a 2012 African Development Bank report. From Morocco to Egypt, the region’s economies are still battling high unemployment and stagnant growth, factors that led to the Arab spring rebellions beginning in 2010. Their non-cooperation is ruinous because they could help each other to prosper. The region is conveniently split between the cash-heavy, non-productive economies of Algeria and Libya and industrious,…
