🇹🇳TunisiaNorth Africa
Tunisian microfinance sector serves over 800,000 beneficiaries under strict oversight
via Business News4 min read
Mahmoud Montassar, Director General of the Microfinance Control Authority, discussed the Tunisian microfinance sector on April 27, 2026, highlighting its role in providing financial access to individuals excluded from traditional banking. The sector supports over 800,000 Tunisians, primarily through seven microfinance companies and nearly 200 associations. These associations are currently undergoing restructuring to integrate into the new legal framework. Financing limits are set at 10,000 dinars for associations and 40,000 dinars for companies, aimed at supporting income-generating activities, small trades, crafts, agriculture, and very small entrepreneurial initiatives. Montassar emphasized that microfinance is a complex industry requiring robust information systems, risk management tools, client monitoring, and field support. He illustrated this with the example of farmers or breeders, where institutions must provide guidance beyond just loans to ensure project success and repayment. To protect beneficiaries from over-indebtedness, the authority uses a dedicated risk center that allows institutions to check an applicant's financial situation before granting new credit, preventing uncontrolled debt accumulation and multiple loans. The Microfinance Control Authority supervises the sector through various means, including reviewing applications for specialized companies, preparing reports for competent authorities, issuing regulations, conducting controls, and protecting clien
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Mondher Belaïd, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced that the recruitment of unemployed doctors is a priority for higher education policy. During a plenary session on Monday, April 27, 2026, he stated that his department is working to facilitate the professional integration of PhD holders. A competition has been launched to recruit 1,350 doctors in an initial phase, with file reviews starting soon in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and the Presidency of the Government to secure positions while considering state financial balances. Belaïd clarified that contractual recruitment would be a transitional step for young doctors to gain teaching experience before permanent employment, rejecting any notion of precarious employment. Unemployed PhD students have been advocating for direct integration into public service without competitive examinations, arguing that current methods do not effectively resolve their situation. Approximately 5,000 graduates are either unemployed or in jobs below their qualification level. In December 2025, the Assembly of People's Representatives adopted a bill for exceptional recruitment into public service for long-term unemployed graduates, particularly those over forty. Belaïd also reiterated his department's commitment to improving the ranking of Tunisian universities through funding programs and quality enhancement projects, noting that ranking disparities are due to varied international criteria. The ministry ha
Tunisian municipalities remain in institutional limbo two years after their dissolution by decree. Interior Minister Khaled Nouri announced on Monday, April 27, 2026, during a hearing at the National Council of Regions and Districts, that a new organic law for municipalities is being drafted. This law aims to introduce accountability mechanisms and monitoring of municipal council activities, marking a departure from past practices. Nouri emphasized that municipal action evaluation will now be based on completed projects rather than administrative or relational considerations, and municipal elections should not be seen as merely political events. This move follows the dissolution of all municipal councils elected in 2018 by decree-law on March 8, 2023, which ended a fragile local democratic experiment. Mayors were dismissed, and special delegations under the Ministry of Interior took over municipal management, creating a prolonged electoral void. The current context is marked by persistent uncertainty in local governance, as illustrated by the recent decision of the local council of Tunis City to refer a dossier on stalled municipal projects to the Presidency of the Republic and the public prosecutor. This situation highlights tensions and dysfunctions, with calls to escalate blockages directly to the state's highest level, bypassing traditional institutional channels. Municipalities operate within a provisional administrative framework with limited autonomy, particularly budg
Tunisian artist Lotfi Bouchnak is currently at the center of a viral social media campaign. An old song of his, "Ahlan Tounes," produced in 2021 in collaboration with the UNHCR for a refugee rights awareness initiative, has been re-shared out of its original context. The video is accompanied by strong comments accusing the artist of promoting policies for "the permanent settlement of foreigners" and undermining "national identity." The campaign is fueled by hostile rhetoric, with some internet users calling for radical measures and attacking human rights organizations like the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Arab Institute for Human Rights. The discourse includes openly xenophobic and racist remarks targeting migrants, refugees, and Bouchnak himself, with his family origins being questioned to discredit him. The original song aimed to promote values of hospitality, dignity, and respect for fundamental rights, aligning with Tunisia's international human rights commitments. Its reappearance five years later, amid tensions over migration, has served to polarize discussions. The article notes that the presentation of the 2021 work as recent contributes to public confusion. While debate on migration policies is legitimate, the campaign's direction raises concerns about online discourse abuses, conflating refugees, irregular migrants, and security issues, and using ad hominem attacks. Bouchnak has become a focal point for broader political criticism, distrust of institutions,
Foreign currency inflows from Tunisians residing abroad and tourism receipts continue to rise in early 2026. By April 20, these two sources generated nearly 4.5 billion dinars in foreign currency, underscoring their critical role in supporting the country's external balances, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Tunisia. Transfers from the Tunisian diaspora reached approximately 2.66 billion dinars by April 20, 2026, an increase of 5.62% compared to 2.52 billion dinars during the same period in 2025. Tourism receipts showed more moderate growth, totaling 1.83 billion dinars by April 20, 2026, up 4.41% from 1.75 billion dinars a year prior. Combined, these two sources contributed 4.49 billion dinars by April 20, 2026, a 5.12% increase from 4.27 billion dinars on the same date in 2025. In 2025, these sources collectively brought in 16.86 billion dinars, compared to 15.86 billion dinars in 2024, representing an annual increase of 996.2 million dinars or 6.28%, confirming their central role in balancing the country's external finances.