After a long silence on the amount of Algerian generosity granted on December 1, the Tunisian government ended up revealing the details. In response to a request for access to information made on December 19 by the Al Bawsala Association, the Tunisian Ministry of Finance specifies that the value of the donation is $100 million while the loan is $200 million, for a fixed annual interest rate of 1%, repayable over 15 years, including 5 years of grace.
As a reminder, part of the Algerian opposition announced last August that Algiers intended to offer a “gift of $200 million” to Tunisia, as a reward for the warm welcome given by President Kaïs Saïed to the leader of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, during the last Africa-Japan summit, held at the end of August in the Tunisian capital.
In its edition of December 9, the Official Journal of the Tunisian Republic reported two decrees dated December 8, 2022, granting Algeria a loan and a donation for the benefit of Tunisia, but without mentioning the amounts. An announcement that came ten days following the visit to Algiers made by the head of the executive, Mrs. Najla Bouden, marked by an interview with the president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
For the record, in December 2021, Algeria had granted a loan of 300 million dollars for the benefit of Tunisia. An announcement made a few weeks following Tunisia’s abstention from the UN Security Council, on October 29, 2021, on the occasion of the adoption of resolution 2602 extending for an additional year the mandate of MINURSO in Western Sahara.
