Businesses with German participation in Tunisia have a fairly satisfactory balance sheet and have a positive outlook for the future, despite an uncertain economic context and numerous challenges to economic development, according to a survey presented Thursday by the German-Tunisian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK) during a panel discussion held at its headquarters in Tunis.
Jörn Bousselmi, director general of the AHK, reported that 81% of German companies said they would have recorded the same or higher turnover in 2023 than in the previous year, based on the results of this annual survey on the situation and prospects of German companies in Tunisia. That survey was carried out this month on a representative sample of more than 30% of companies, mainly in the industrial, distribution and services sectors.
This “rather encouraging” situation has led 47% of the companies surveyed to revise their headcount upwards over the past year.
These companies are “slightly optimistic” that their prospects for 2024 will be good (34%) or average (51%), while 15% are rather pessimistic. The outlook for 2025 is similarly positive.
What’s more, the majority of companies expect their investments to remain stable (53%) or increase (20%) in 2024, with an increase in 2025.
While the majority of companies plan to have the same number of employees over the next two years, a significant number (more than 25%) expect to increase their workforce. Few (less than 20%) expect their workforce to decrease.
When it comes to the obstacles to their economic development in 2024-2025, more than 40% of the companies surveyed agree that the socio-political environment remains their main concern, as it was last year.
Customs, a persistent obstacle
In terms of the areas where difficulties with the Tunisian authorities were identified, the companies surveyed said that customs (48%) came first, closely followed by the administration (45%). The third most important obstacle is the Central Bank (25%). These are the same constraints as last year, which prevent German companies from operating optimally.
According to Ghazi El Bich, President of the AHK Tunisia, customs officials are still very cooperative with foreign economic operators, but are hampered by the existing regulatory framework.
In terms of macroeconomic indicators, the survey shows that the majority of German companies remain pessimistic about inflation and expect the Tunisian dinar to depreciate over the next two years. According to the same source, the medium- and long-term outlook remains unclear.
Despite these challenges, Bousselmi stresses that Tunisia remains a preferred destination for German direct investment projects. The country’s advantages, such as geographical proximity, skills, availability of labour and competitive production costs, continue to attract German companies.
In this context, the President of the AHK stressed the need for Tunisia to seize the opportunities presented to it and to make the most of its various assets, which will make it more attractive to international investors in general and to Germany in particular, which is a privileged partner.
Tunisia’s economic fabric currently includes 300 companies with 1German participation, employing more than 90,000 people.
As a reminder, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the non-energy sector increased significantly in 2023, with 638 investment operations for a total of 1,916.3 million dinars, creating 147,476 new direct jobs, according to figures from the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency in Tunisia (FIPA).
Of this FDI, 237.89 million dinars came from German investors, placing Germany 4th in the distribution of FDI flows by country.
