Tunisia’s President Removes Minister of Energy and Trade
Tunisian President Kais Saied fired Energy and Industry Minister Fatma Thabet Chiboub on Tuesday, just ahead of a parliament meeting to discuss contentious draft regulations on renewable energy contracts. The firing was announced in a terse statement by the presidency, which provided no reason.
It came amid strong opposition from unions and parliamentarians to five government-approved measures governing the awarding of concessions to foreign corporations, primarily for the installation of solar panels.
According to the proposed bills, foreign enterprises can use the energy produced by the panels for 20 years, renewable once for an additional 10 years, and the first five years are tax-free. The energy would be sold to the Tunisian state-owned power and gas provider, STEG.
The government said that the proposed bills would “boost Tunisia’s energy independence, guarantee its energy supply, and lower electricity production costs” when they were presented.Tunisia imports the vast bulk of its energy demands, putting a pressure on the country’s annual budget due to fuel, power, and gas subsidies.
According to Wael Chouchane, Tunisia’s state secretary for energy transformation, the overall amount of renewable energy on the grid reached nine percent in April, with a goal of increasing it to 35 percent by 2030.
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