Through its Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), Tunisia has outlined its vision for the level of funding it aims to attract during the 2026–2030 five-year period: approximately TND 4 billion in foreign investments per year, raising the country’s investment rate from 16% to 24–25%.
This was stated by FIPA’s central director, Hatem Soussi, who emphasized the need to accelerate reforms to achieve this goal.
He explained that public investment must play a leading role in stimulating private, local, and foreign investment, while digitalization and infrastructure development will mark a qualitative advance in the new development plan.
He also called for encouraging Tunisian companies to internationalize, integrate into global value chains, and strengthen their presence in the stock market to enhance the country’s attractiveness.
2025: an “encouraging” start
Early results for 2025 are promising: Tunisia attracted TND 1,650.3 million in foreign investments in the first half of the year, nearly 50% of the annual target of TND 3,400 million, representing a 20.8% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 21.3% to TND 1,640.5 million, while portfolio investments fell 28.3% to TND 9.7 million, due to a lack of new stock market listings or significant capital increases.
The industrial sector, particularly manufacturing, was the main beneficiary, receiving TND 1,031.3 million in FDI, an increase of nearly TND 200 million, especially in automotive and aerospace components. Foreign companies have requested the expansion of the Mghira industrial zone (Ben Arous) to meet strong global demand.
The textile and clothing sector is experiencing a gradual revival, based on quality, small high-value batches, and proximity to Europe.
The energy sector recorded growth of nearly 60%, with TND 398 million in investments, driven by renewable energy expansion and contracts for solar and wind plants.
FDI distribution shows a dominance of manufacturing (62.9%), followed by energy (24.3%), services (11.6%) and agriculture (1.2%).
Soussi expects investment flows to accelerate in the second half of the year to meet annual targets.
End of the onshore-offshore model
These figures must translate into tangible performance, which Tunisia can achieve. To do so, it will be necessary to phase out the onshore-offshore model, which initially contributed to Tunisia’s development in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, weak economic performance over the past decade shows that this dual economic model is no longer suitable to support Tunisia’s economic growth, according to the World Bank.
The offshore sector attracted foreign investors and hard currency, while the heavily protected onshore sector helped develop a local industrial base.
Although the offshore regime succeeded in attracting foreign companies and creating jobs, the dual system also introduced significant distortions, as documented in over 70 studies on the Tunisian Investment Incentives Code (IFC and Ernst & Young, 2012), alongside its high financial cost, which increasingly hinder Tunisia’s development.
