Yaïche proposes power corridor and new industrial co-production model for Tunisia and Europe

Former Tunisian finance minister Nizar Yaïche called for a shift from low-value subcontracting towards industrial co-production with Europe at the first Tunisia Industry Talks, according to Managers’ original report published on 21 October 2026. The outlet dates his keynote to the same day and says the event was organised in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Tunisia. His criticism concerned European industrial investment in Tunisia, rather than a blanket assessment of all Tunisian industry. One proposal was a clean-electricity corridor combining renewable generation, storage and transmission. Yaïche suggested an initial scale of 5–5.5 gigawatts, with a possible longer-term ambition of 100 GW over 10–20 years. These are the speaker’s proposed scales, not contracted capacity. The account says Tunisian needs, including those of utility STEG, would be served before surplus exports. He advocated project companies and long-term power-purchase contracts to limit reliance on public debt and state guarantees. The industrial agenda included a proposed “Europe Tunisia Africa Investment Act”, investment support spanning studies through production, and a European co-production facility in discussions over the EU budget cycle beginning in 2028. Yaïche favoured risk-sharing guarantees and also proposed a prototyping platform and sector-specific arrangements, including for textiles and electronic components. No adopted legislation, EU allocation or financial close is established by the article. Nexus analysis — The substantive development is a publicly articulated policy agenda. Its investment relevance is the proposed combination of electricity infrastructure, market access and risk-sharing, rather than any bankable project yet evidenced. Detailed feasibility work, partner decisions, contracts and financing would be required before the capacities or funding concepts could be treated as a delivery pipeline.