Reported investments in all sectors amounted to TND 6000 million in 2023, down 15.7% from 2022 as a result of lower investments in the services sector (-57.6%) and renewables ( -54.3%) , said the Tunisian Investment Authority (French: TIA) in its monthly statistical bulletin released Friday.

These investments generated 88, 349 jobs, posting a 3.4% decline on 2022.

Business creation operations, TIA further said, generated more investments than extension operations in 2023.

The volume of investments in connection to business creation reached TND 4863, that is 81% of reported investments.

Jobs generated by creation operations outnumbered those created by extension operations, totalling 72,033 (82% of jobs).

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Sectoral breakdown shows industry is taking the lead with a 55% share of reported investments.

It is the largest job-generating sector with 58% of job opportunities. This demonstrates the sector’s capacity to stimulate employment creation and contribute to reducing unem
ployment, the investment authority said.

The industry sector analysis shows building materials, ceramics and glass have the lion’s share with 27% of reported investments, followed by the agri-food sector (26%) and mechanical and electrical engineering industries (22%).

Reported projects in mechanical and electrical engineering involve a number of activities (manufaturing car equipment, shipbuilding, the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft).

The agricultural sector is second ranked in investment with TND 1,478.85 million, accounting for 25% of reported investments. It contributes to the creation of 8,291 jobs.

Renewable energies are a priority sector. It reported a volume of investment of TND 144.45 million in 2023. Projects revolve around two types of renewable energies, the wind energy and Photovoltaic energy.

Ten governorates (Sfax, Zaghouan, Béja, Nabeul, Bizerte, Manouba, Kasserine, Ben Arous, Sidi Bouzid and Sousse) posted the largest reported investment volumes (all sectors included).

This show
s an even distribution across governorates, TIA said. The governorate of Sfax has a share of 8.9%, that is TND 534.23 million in investments. This testifies to the dynamic role of the region in economic development.

Reported investments in regional development areas in 2023 reached TND 2,778.6 million. This accounts for 46.3%, of overall reported investments.

Figures also show 23% of reported investments involve a foreign participation with a total amount of TND 1,393.3 million.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse