<\/p>\n
The World Bank\u2019s latest Tunisia Economic Monitor: Tunisia\u2019s Water Challenge: From Scarcity to Resilience said water management would become increasingly important to economic growth, employment and living standards.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tunisia has settled into a period of slow economic growth and remains vulnerable to higher import prices and imbalances in public finances.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Economic growth reached 2.7% in 2025 before easing to 2.4% year-on-year during the first half of 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Agriculture, tourism and the mechanical and electrical industries supported activity. However, growth is projected at 2.3% in 2026 and an average of 2.1% during 2027 and 2028.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Unemployment fell to 14.9% during the second quarter of 2026. The unemployment rate among women remained significantly higher at 21.6%, nearly twice the rate recorded among men.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tunisia has about 380 cubic metres of renewable freshwater available per person annually, placing the country well below the international threshold for absolute water scarcity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Climate change and increasing demand are expected to intensify pressure on limited supplies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Agriculture employs 14% of Tunisia\u2019s workforce and as many as half of workers in rural communities. The World Bank estimated that water shortages and climate pressures could eliminate at least 30% of agricultural jobs by 2050 while substantially reducing output.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The effects would spread to tourism, food processing, manufacturing and other water-dependent industries. \u201cWater security is fundamental for jobs and growth,\u201d World Bank Division Director for the Maghreb and Malta Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, with the right policies, institutions and investments, Tunisia can ease the impact of water scarcity upon the living standards of ordinary Tunisians.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first phase of the World Bank-supported RESEau programme is expected to create about 4 000 permanent and 13 400 temporary jobs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tunisia\u2019s Plan Eau 2050 proposes annual investment of about $900 million until mid-century.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The World Bank said infrastructure investment should be accompanied by stronger governance, sustainable financing and improved performance among service providers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Recommended measures include modernising the Water Code, establishing rules for treated wastewater reuse, reducing network losses, expanding digital systems and improving irrigation management.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cost recovery should also improve while protecting vulnerable households from unaffordable increases.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WorldBank\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34442,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-46300","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Water scarcity could reduce Tunisia\u2019s economy by 6.4% by 2050 and eliminate nearly one-third of agricultural jobs without urgent reforms, the World Bank has warned.","published_date":"","news_description":"Water scarcity could reduce Tunisia\u2019s economy by 6.4% by 2050 and eliminate nearly one-third of agricultural jobs without urgent reforms, the World Bank has warned.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46301,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46300\/revisions\/46301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=46300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}