TUNIS // Almost US$45 billion (Dh165.28bn) worth of projects announced by Gulf investors in Tunisia during the tenure of the former president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, have either been cancelled or failed to progress beyond initial construction phases.
With Mr Ben Ali ousted amid a popular uprising two months ago, the future for the projects that remain has grown even cloudier.
Tunis Sports City, a $5bn complex of sports facilities, apartments, stores and offices launched in 2006 by Sharjah's Bukhatir Group, is perhaps emblematic of the slow progress Gulf companies have made with Tunisian projects. Although the project's first phase is progressing with infrastructure work, its headquarters, a squat, mirror-glassed building on the north side of the Lake of Tunis, remains the only finished building on the site five years after its announcement.
"The problem is that now with what just happened in Tunisia, for things to return in view of property, I think we will wait for a year and a half or two years," an employee at the Tunis Sports City project said in the cavernous headquarters, showing off a series of scale models of golf courses, apartment buildings and a stadium. "You wait until things start to resume."
The Bukhatir offices in the UAE did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the project.
The Tunis Financial Harbour, a $3bn project by Bahrain's Gulf Finance House on more than 500 hectares near the Tunis suburb of Raoued, has also gone nowhere since its launch in 2008.
A project that Esam Janahi, Gulf Finance's chairman, said in December would harness "the impressive economic potential within the Tunisian economy" is little more than an open expanse of land in a less-developed area north of the main Tunis airport. People in the nearby towns of Raoued and Kalaat el Andalous have not even heard of the project.
Meanwhile, a $10bn City of Roses, or Bled El Ward, launched by Abu Dhabi's Al Maabar was cancelled last year, and Sama Dubai, a developer owned by Dubai Holding, pulled out of its $25bn Portes de la Mediterranee project in the capital in 2009.
Dubai's Emaar Properties, the Middle East's biggest developer, also announced a $1.88bn Tunisian project that it later cancelled.
Imad Nesnas, the project manager of Tunis Financial Harbour, said the offshore centre was still on track despite the lack of progress. The land had been acquired, he said, and two contracts to design and supervise infrastructure construction were awarded last year. The proposed layout of roads and other infrastructure was now awaiting approval from city authorities.
"We have dealt throughout with the state of Tunis pertaining to an agreement ratified by the parliament of Tunis," Mr Nesnas said.
The recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have put a major dent in the North African countries' economies and scared away many foreign tourists and investors.
An official in Tunisia's transitional government said last month the upheaval had already shaved $5bn to $8bn off economic activity. Returning to the growth rates of the past - Tunisia's economy grew by more than 4 per cent a year for most of the past decade - hinges in part on a return of confidence from foreigners, including Gulf investors with large projects in both countries.
Moncef Cheikhrouhou, a Tunisian economist who teaches at HEC Paris business school, said the post-revolutionary appeal to foreigners had to include the prospect of strong returns.
"The first message I would send to Gulf investors and the sovereign wealth funds is to invest in democracy in Tunisia," he said. "Invest in the transition. It's profitable in the long term."
afitch@thenational.ae
Depth of corruption, b4
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Switching%20sides
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WITHIN%20SAND
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
Result: Scotland won by six runs
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets