A new maritime line connecting Tunisia to West Africa and South Africa passing through Morocco is being established, according to Tunisia’s minister of industry and trade, Zied Laadhari. 

Zied Laadhari disclosed this on the sidelines of the 35th annual conference of heads of diplomatic and consular missions, recently held in Tunisia. At the occasion, the official indicated that his office was working with the Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN) to determine the line’s route.

The line which, according to the minister, will be operational in few months in order to enable Tunisian firms better access the African market. 

The project for the new line comes as the country plans to, this year, sign the agreement for the common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which regroups 19 countries with about 500 million inhabitants. 

It should be highlighted that Tunisia, which was appointed as observer member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on June 4, 2017, also said it wishes to fully join the West African community. 

However, trade between Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa remains weak. In 2015, this represented barely 2.4% of Tunisia’s overall external trade.