Tunisia sees UAE investments in real estate, solar projects
Al Arabiya English
Published: 04 March ,2022: 03:08 PM GST Updated: 04 March ,2022: 03:35 PM GST
UAE-based Bukhatir Group will revive a $5 billion real estate project in Tunis, Tunisian sources told Reuters on Friday, the first big project in the North African country since a 2011 revolution.
Sources said the group will officially launch the Tunis Sports City project next week after it was halted following the revolution that toppled former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The project include sports academies, a golf course, hotels and apartments covering 275 hectares in the north of Tunis. It is expected initially to provide about 10,000 jobs in the country, where unemployment is more than 18 percent.
Tunisian government officials were not immediately available for comment. Bukhatir could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tunisia has been seeking foreign investment to revive its economy which has been hit hard by the pandemic after years of stagnation, compounded by political turmoil.
In another business development, Emirates News Agency WAM reported on Friday that the Tunisian Government has awarded the UAE-based AMEA Power a Concession Agreement and a Power Purchase Agreement for a 100MW solar project in Kairouan, worth US$100 million (AED368 million).
The solar power plant construction is expected to “begin by the end of this year,” reported WAM.
The project reportedly has a planned production of nearly 223,171 MWh of power per year, saving more than 113,525 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.