The renovation and rehabilitation of the El Menzah stadium was at the center of a meeting on Wednesday September 11, 2024, at the Ministry of Equipment and Housing, where Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri received the Chinese ambassador to Tunisia, Wan Li, accompanied by a delegation.
During this meeting focused on the El Menzah stadium in particular, the Minister examined with the ambassador Chinese proposals and procedures for the project to redevelop the Olympic stadium in El Menzah, presented for this purpose.
The Minister underlined the importance of continuous coordination between the different parties in order to overcome the obstacles and ensure the success of the project, welcoming the positive evolution of strategic cooperation between China and Tunisia as illustrated as the results of the recent visit to China of the Head of Government, Kamel Madourri and his participation in the Sino-African summit which was held in September 3 to 5 to 5 to 5 September 2024.
The renovation works of the El Menzah Olympic stadium, which dates from 1967, was started on June 10, 2022 for an estimated period of 900 days for an envelope of 100 million dinars. The work was carried out up to 20% knowing that the El Menzah stadium should have become operational in November 2024.
Faced with the pile of problems, the head of state Kais Saied moved on November 16, 2023 to the El Menzah stadium to note the many problems linked to this file starting with the contract binding the Ministry of Youth and Sports with a Tunisian company.
Since then, the work has been at a standstill while a Chinese company specializing in the construction of sports infrastructure has declared itself willing to continue the already initiated work of the legendary stadium. Last April, a meeting between the Minister of Youth and Sports, Kamel Deguiche at the time, and a Chinese delegation indeed suggests a way out of blocking.
Yesterday’s meeting suggests a result of resumption of work in a few days, with an execution period remaining estimated at around one year. This means that the El Menzah Olympic stadium could become operational in the fall of 2025.
