First Independent Mena Newspaper
The government has sold 15% of its stake in mobile operator Tunisiana to the Qatar based Qtel group. The conclusion of the deal raises the stake owned by Qtel group in Tunisiana to 90% if stakes acquired directly and through subsidiaries are taken into consideration. However, the Tunisian government still holds on the remaining 10% […]
Four Maghreban women were listed among ten emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering and math in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2012. These ten Middle Eastern and North African women were part of a 41 member group that participated in the TechWomen program launched by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton […]
Morocco has been invited to take part in a nuclear security simulation exercise to be held in Spain by the end of next year. The exercise, dubbed CURIEX 2013, will be organized by the European Commission and the Spanish Government. Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, and Israel were also invited to partake in the exercise. The […]
With the EU aiming to increasingly meet its energy needs from renewable sources – 30 per cent by 2020 and almost 100 per cent by 2050 – a great portion of this renewable power will have to come particularly from large-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations in sunny regions of the North Africa. But since the Maghreb […]
After decades of elusive quest for a common Arab economic space and EU-promoted trials with the fluky Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement (EU-MFTA), the economies of the MENA region are facing the challenge of deciding whether to bury or revive the ‘frozen’ regional integration processes. Prior to the events of the Arab Spring, the MENA member […]
Marrakech has become over the years the place to be to celebrate the Christmas season and New Year’s Eve for the world jet set and celebrities who find in the ochre city a heaven of peace, charm, entertainment and fun. This year is no exception as several celebrities have already arrived in the city or […]
Moroccan authorities, the employers’ association, CGEM, trade unions and the social security fund, CNSS, have finally agreed to institute unemployment benefits to ease the strain of the global financial crisis that is sparing no country. The project to set up such an allowance was first tabled some 12 years ago but several obstacles have so […]
The European Union is pushing the five countries of the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco & Tunisia ) to enhance their cooperation and foster their integration because the two regional blocs and shores of the Mediterranean share common interests. To reach that goal, the EU High Representative and the European Commission issued a Joint document […]
Eberhard Rhein is currently senior adviser at the European Policy Center in Brussels. He has devoted most of his life to European and global issues. During the 1980s-1990s, he served successively as chef de cabinet to the Commission vice-president in charge of external relations and director responsible for the Mediterranean and Arab world. Lately, he […]
A four year agreement to build a broadband access network which will bring high-speed Internet access and high-quality voice and video services to millions of Tunisians has been announced by the largest provider of wireless communications in the country, Tunisianain partnership with Alcatel-Lucent. Tunisiana is hoping to launch commercial services early next year and Alcatel-Lucent […]