Summary:

During a summit held last week in Algiers, Tunisia and Algeria signed an agreement to help boost cooperation on startups. The agreement, signed by Tunisian’s Minister of Communication Technologies and Algeria’s Minister of Knowledge, Economy, Startups, and Microenterprises, aims to position North African startups for national, regional, and international competitiveness. Specific elements of the agreement include information sharing, networking opportunities, and the promotion of business incubators. Meanwhile, leaders from the controversial Polisario Front – the southern Morocco-based group claiming independence, have been making inroads in Tunis via meetings with government and labor union leaders. These meetings come following Kais Saied’s inclusion of the Front’s leader, Brahim Ghali, at Japan’s African development summit hosted in Tunis this past summer.

Outlook:  

This agreement between Tunis and Algiers comes in the midst of a flurry of diplomatic activity by Kais Saied and his government leading up to the 17 December Parliamentary Elections and signing of the IMF deal. Other diplomatic efforts have included visits to, or hosting delegations from, the US, China, Pakistan, Ivory Coast, and Libya. This move toward deepening ties with Algeria is consistent with the general movement of the Saied government away from Morocco and toward Algeria as a primary regional partner.