The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Tunisie Telecom are partnering to improve Tunisia’s digital infrastructure and drive the company’s transformation. The EBRD is providing a loan of up to €190 million to upgrade mobile networks, expand fiber connections, and link Tunisia to the MEDUSA submarine cable in the Mediterranean, the bank announced.
The development-linked loan will be disbursed in four tranches, including a first committed tranche of €50 million. The money will finance multi-year investments in upgrading Tunisie Telecom’s mobile access network from 4G to 5G, expanding its fiber network, connecting up to 200,000 Tunisian households to fiber-to-the-home, and modernizing the company’s backbone and core network. It also includes targeted investments in energy efficiency and energy production.
The loan will finance Tunisie Telecom’s connection to the MEDUSA submarine cable, a subsea network supported by the European Union and led by Spanish company AFR-IX. The cable spans more than 8,000 kilometers and connects close to 13 countries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The EBRD loan is complemented by an €11 million grant from the EU under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform, including an investment grant for core networks and cybersecurity plus technical assistance for a comprehensive transformation program.
The transformation program will focus on skills development, sustainability, energy efficiency, digitalization, cybersecurity, and strategic reform. It’s expected to improve the company’s efficiency, resilience, and competitiveness. The EBRD is providing financing without a sovereign guarantee in Tunisia’s public sector for the first time since 2012. The loan is structured as a development-linked loan, where the interest rate is tied to achieving key transformation milestones—sustainability objectives and broader state-owned enterprise reform objectives.
“We are very proud to support a key sector for Tunisia at a time when digitalisation and connectivity are of very high and ever-increasing importance,” said EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.
She noted the project contributes to modernizing Tunisie Telecom and Tunisia’s digital transformation, enhancing connectivity to Europe and positioning the country as a digital hub across the Mediterranean and in Africa. The EBRD’s financing is supported by a first-loss guarantee from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus through its Digital Transformation Platform, aligning with the EU Global Gateway strategy.
Since 2012, the EBRD has invested more than €3 billion in 89 projects across Tunisia and supported around 2,000 local small and medium-sized enterprises through EU-funded technical assistance.
