The African Development Bank hosted a stakeholder consultation workshop in Tunis on 23 June 2026, bringing together public authorities, the private sector, civil society organisations, and technical and financial partners to shape the Bank's next regional integration strategy for North Africa.
The consultation drew lessons from the Regional Integration Strategy Paper for North Africa (RISP-NA) 2020-2026, the first of its kind in the Bank's history, and gathered the strategic and operational priorities of Tunisian stakeholders ahead of the development of a new 2027-2033 framework. The new framework will seek to deepen economic integration within North Africa and between the region and the broader African continent.
"In the current context, marked by strong global volatility, regional integration is more than ever a strategic response to better connect African countries, expand markets, stimulate investment, and create more employment opportunities. The future strategy must be grounded in national realities and translate dialogue into concrete projects, integrated infrastructure and partnerships that deliver tangible impact for people," said Malinne Blomberg, Deputy Director General for North Africa at the African Development Bank and Country Manager for Tunisia.
Discussions at the workshop spanned economic and logistics corridors, energy interconnections, financial integration, private-sector financing, and value chains--particularly in agriculture, water stress, youth employment, and skills mobility.
A regional diagnostic presented by the Bank highlighted North Africa as a market of about 275 million people with a combined GDP of approximately $1 trillion. Yet intraregional trade remains below five percent of total trade, due to cross-border infrastructure gaps, fragmented financial markets, and limited harmonisation of standards and regulatory procedures.
For Tunisia specifically, the Bank identified concrete opportunities in agro-industry, electrical industries, textiles, pharmaceuticals, digital services, and engineering. Stronger connectivity with Algeria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa could reduce logistics costs, broaden market access for Tunisian businesses, and support the creation of skilled jobs, particularly for young people.
"Through its geographical position, diversified economic and industrial fabric, and openness to sub-Saharan Africa, Tunisia can play a unifying and catalytic role in North African and continental regional integration," said Tarek Bouhlel, Director General for African Cooperation at the Ministry of Economy and Planning.
Between 2020 and 2026, the RISP-NA helped mobilise nearly $6 billion across 23 sovereign and non-sovereign operations in regional infrastructure, trade finance, and economic corridor development, with the aim of improving market connectivity and building regional value chains. The priorities under consideration for the 2027-2033 strategy focus on developing competitive regional value chains and strengthening the connectivity of strategic transport, logistics, energy, and digital infrastructure.
The Tunis workshop forms part of a wider participatory consultation process that the Bank has already conducted in Mauritania, Libya and Morocco. Through this approach, the African Development Bank aims to make regional integration a lever for productive transformation, resilience and inclusive growth across Tunisia, North Africa, and the entire continent.
