2023-04-27 14:50:15
Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed has called for reviving the flagging phosphate industry, which in his view might generate revenue allowing Tunisia to do without borrowing from international institutions.
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The Head of State addressed this issue on April 26 during a meeting of the National Security Council, three weeks following having rejected the “dictates” of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which conditions the granting of a loan of $2 billion to Tunisia for economic reforms and the lifting of certain state subsidies.
“Unmined Gold”
Kaïs Saïed compared the phosphate which abounds the Tunisian subsoil to unmined gold. “Our gold is underground as the country faces a difficult financial situation,” he said at the meeting, according to a video released by the presidency.
“The quality of Tunisian phosphate is among the best in the world and a quick solution to this problem must be found. This situation cannot last,” he added. Estimating that the production might reach ten million tons per year, he affirmed that the income generated might “reinflate a large part of the coffers of the State which will no longer be obliged to borrow from abroad”.
He also denounced “corruption” largely responsible according to him for the slowdown in production, citing in particular the acquisition of wagons for the transport of phosphate which “turned out to be unusable on the existing railway”.
Marginalized region
Former flagship of the Tunisian economy, the Compagnie des phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) has seen its production collapse since the 2011 revolution, due to a lack of investment and repeated social unrest to demand jobs and measures of development in the marginalized region of the center-west, where this ore is extracted to make fertilizer.
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Tunisia, which produced 8 million of tonnes in 2010, has only extracted 2.7 to 4 million tonnes per year since. The country went from fifth to twelfth world producer. In 2020, he even had to import phosphate from Algeria to meet his needs.
The exploitation of phosphate, supposed to be a source of income, is now a burden for the State. The Tunisian chemical complex, which transforms phosphate is also in great difficulty.
Moroccan example
Conversely, within the Maghreb, Morocco via its champion of phosphates OCP offers the example of an industrial success serving the development of the country. Led by Mostafa Terrab and 94% owned by the Moroccan state, the group with 18,000 employees and 350 customers around the world is one of the world’s top 5 phosphate fertilizer producers, having achieved a record turnover. of 114.6 billion dirhams in 2022 (more than 10 billion euros).
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The group, which has a production capacity of 12 million tonnes of fertilizer per year, plans to invest some 13 billion dollars by 2027 to reach 20 million tonnes annually, while developing renewable energies, green ammonia, desalination of seawater but also products chemicals specialized.
(with AFP)
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