The French Development Agency (AFD) signed a series of financing agreements on Friday in Tunis on Friday in Tunis totaling 54.5 million euros. These agreements aim at three strategic axes: access to drinking water, the most vulnerable economic inclusion and the vocational training of young people.
Secure access to drinking water for 6 million Tunisians
SONEDE will benefit from € 42.5 million for two major projects: strengthen the CAP Bon – Sahel – Sfax adduction system and secure the supply of the Grand Tunis. These funds will finance the construction of treatment stations, reservoirs and additional pipes, guaranteeing a more reliable network.
Almost half of the Tunisian population should benefit directly from these investments, which meet critical urbanization and resource preservation issues.
Economic inclusion of vulnerable households
A budgetary support of € 5 million is granted to the Ministry of Social Affairs for its program to empower poor categories, limited income and disabled people.
This funding will make it possible to double the capacities of the system, with subsidies and support to create income -generating activities, particularly targeting regions marked by poverty and internal migrations.
Training and professional mobility of young people
To combat unemployment for 15-24 years which reached 37.7 %, AFD and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs launch a project of € 7 million. Two pilot centers – in Sousse and Grombalia – will be modernized to become poles of excellence.
Goals :
- Train 1,800 learners in three years,
- guarantee a employment rate of 100 % one year after training,
- develop 10 new sectors,
- And support 100 young people with return to international mobility.
Franco-Tunisian strategic cooperation
“These funding only makes sense by their effective implementation,” recalled Philippe Orliange, executive director of AFD, highlighting the desire for a partnership focused on results.
For his part, the Tunisian Minister of the Economy Samir Abdelhafidh insisted on “the scale and diversity” of this cooperation, considered perfectly aligned with the economic and social priorities of Tunisia.
The official signature ceremony was held at the Ministry of Economy and Planning, in the presence of Mr. Samir Abdelhafidh, Minister of Economy and Planning, Mr. Abdelhamid Mnajja, CEO of Sonede, Mr. Philippe Orliange, Executive Director of AFD Geographies as well as Mrs. Anne Guéguen, Ambassador of France in Tunisia.
