Transit trade and ‘‘Gateway to Africa’’ has become an imperative for Libya and Tunisia – otherwise they will miss out on Sub-Saharan African market

By Sami Zaptia.

Tunisia and Libya must activate transit trade and the ”Gateway to Africa” policy if they do not want to miss out on the sub-Saharan Africa market (Photo: TABC).

London, 29 June 2021:

Speaking on L’Expert Tunisian tv, Libya’s Minister of Industry Ahmed Abuhisa said it has become a given and a necessity for Libya and Tunisia to have much closer trade linkages and interconnections as they complement each other.

Abuhisa was speaking on the margins of the ‘‘Financing Investment and Trade in Africa 2021’’ conference that was held between 24-26 June at the Laico Hotel, Tunis and organized by the Tunisian African Business Council (TABC).

The event had dedicated a day to Libya during which transit trade with sub-Saharan Africa was discussed in a workshop entitled: ‘‘Reviving the transit route and transit trade and making Tunisia and Libya the gateway to sub-Saharan Africa’’.

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Localizing industry and manufacturing

Abuhisa said Tunisia is well ahead and the model for Libya to follow in industry/manufacturing. It is our first model to learn from, he insisted.

He said Libya wants to localize manufacturing and is depending on the trained and experienced Tunisian labour to help it build this sector. The Minister said Tunisia will get priority in supplying trained labour to Libya.

Gateway and transit trade to sub-Saharan Africa

Abuhisa said Libya becoming the ‘‘Gateway to Africa’’ has become an imperative and Tunisia and Libya complementing each other has become a necessity. He stressed that if the two countries don’t take action on activating the policy of transit trade and the ‘‘Gateway to Africa’’ policy – they will miss out on the sub-Saharan African market.

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