World Bank lends Tunisia $268 million for power line with Italy
2023.06.22 10:50
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund – World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo
TUNIS (Reuters) – The World Bank Group has lent Tunisia $268.4 million to finance an electrical interconnection project with Italy that will link the energy networks between Tunisia and Europe, TAP state news agency said on Thursday.
The agreement ends a temporary pause in the bank’s work with Tunisia that followed comments by Tunisian President Kais Saied about migrants from sub-Saharan Africa earlier this year that were blamed for triggering racist harassment and violence.
The total cost of the project, known as “AlMAD”, is about 850 million euros.
Italy is looking to become a European energy hub and creating a link to Africa to import electricity generated from renewable energy sources plays into its strategy to eliminate its gas dependence from Russia.
