A simple beginner-level search on ChatGPT about the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and why countries boast about its increase would tell you that FDIs inject capital into the local economy.
This capital helps finance industrial projects, infrastructure, or local businesses. It can compensate for a lack of domestic savings or internal financing.
FDIs can lead to technology and know-how transfers, as foreign companies often bring new technologies, advanced production processes, and improved work organization—contributing to the modernization of the local economy.
FDIs create direct jobs (within the companies that set up operations) and indirect ones (in supplier networks, service providers, etc.), which helps reduce unemployment and increase household incomes.
FDIs appear in the capital account of the balance of payments.
They represent an inflow of foreign currency and can enhance a country’s financial stability.
They also strengthen public revenues. Even though some companies may benefit from tax incentives, FDIs still generate corporate taxes, consumption taxes, and social security contributions. In short, they have ripple effects on the local economy.
FIPA: The main funnel of FDI figures
Rarely a week goes by without FIPA or an economy-related ministry announcing a major FDI project, along with bold promises of job creation.
According to UNCTAD, the FDI stock in Tunisia has increased by 30% since 2010. By the end of 2024, international investments had reached 2.956.6 million dinars, a 16.7% rise.
A fervent advocate of FDI, as though the country’s entire future depended on it, FIPA Tunisia’s Director General,
Jalel Tebib, has come to dominate the narrative, nearly sidelining the Tunisian Investment Authority (TIA), which now risks joining the list of institutions targeted by presidential frustration.
Tebib announced that foreign investments in Tunisia surged to 3.2 billion dinars in 2024. He even forecasts 4 billion dinars in 2025.
The pro-government press eagerly spins this flood of figures, presenting them as “Tunisia’s bet in the face of global crisis.” Yet, there’s little mention of what this “bet” has entailed, such as the sequestration (some would say plundering) of funds in dormant bank accounts, which include money belonging to orphans and heirs.
A different tune—echoing Cheikh Imam’s song “Bitter Words”
Not everyone shares Tebib’s narrative. Other credible sources do exist in Tunisia. One such voice is Professor Hachemi Alaya, whose EcoWeek bulletin dated June 29, 2025, ran with the headline: “Tunisia, a Black Hole on the World Map of Foreign Investment,” backed by a telling table of figures.
This renowned economist starts by denouncing what he calls “a deceptive use of statistics,” noting that this is “the lowest share recorded in over 25 years.”
He highlights a “deep deficiency in digital economy FDIs,” and laments that “Tunisia is increasingly bypassed in global benchmarking reports.”
While the local press claims record FDI inflows, echoing Tebib’s words, Alaya counters that “FDI inflows have stagnated for years” and that Tunisia recorded an “investment shortfall of over 75 billion dinars between 2010 and 2024.”
He bitterly observes that “open data has given way to a very telling ‘closed data’ culture.”
Where are the billions of dinars in growth and jobs?
From our modest, beginner-level perspective, let this be clear to those who might accuse us of misinterpretation or hidden agendas, we simply observe, with official data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in hand, that Tunisia’s trade deficit stood at 8.367,2 million dinars by the end of the first five months of this year.
The coverage rate was 76.2%. Where are the 856 investment projects? Have they produced anything that improved Tunisia’s foreign trade figures?
In Q1 2025, the unemployment rate decreased to 15.7% from 16.0% in Q3 2024, according to the INS, which reported 664,500 unemployed persons, a mere 2,700 fewer than the previous quarter.
Yet, end-2024 FDIs were supposed to generate 15,681 new jobs for young Tunisians and help boost social security revenues. If these aren’t just inflated numbers, then where did they go?
According to INS figures, Tunisia’s GDP grew by 1.6% year-on-year in Q1 2025 (adjusted for seasonal variation). So how is it that the 2.956.6 million dinars in FDI, despite a 16.7% increase, didn’t even contribute a modest half-point to economic growth?
Shouldn’t FIPA and company have spoken more cautiously, perhaps about FDI intentions rather than confirmed investments? Otherwise, why haven’t these billions of dinars translated into more growth, more jobs, and more exports?
And these billions—denominated in foreign currency, since they are FDIs, were they actually deposited in the Central Bank’s foreign reserves, or were they already “dinarized” for payroll and social expenses before delivering the promised employment and growth?
These are just simple questions, asked by someone who admits to being a novice in both economics and politics.
