Tunisia signs over 100-mln-USD agreement with AfDB on job creation program

TUNIS, Sep. 10 (Xinhua) — An agreement on a financing package of around 101.7 million U.S. dollars was signed Tuesday between Tunisia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for facilitating the country’s job creation program.
The package includes a 24-year loan worth 90 million euros (99.2 million dollars) and a donation of 2.5 million dollars in the form of technical support, for Tunisia’s Support Programme for Business Competitiveness and Empowerment of the Population through Job Creation (CAP-Emplois), the Tunisian Ministry of Economy and Planning said in a post on Facebook.
The agreement was signed by Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Abdelhafidh and AfDB’s Deputy Director-General for North Africa Malinne Blomberg, it said.
According to the AfDB, a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in its regional member countries, CAP-Emplois will be rolled out over four years starting from November 2024, with an aim to support the creation of jobs and new businesses, as well as the growth and formalization of existing businesses in Tunisia.
The program is said to enable the creation of 118,900 formal jobs, 76,600 directly and 42,300 indirectly, in the country. ■