World Bank to grant Tunisia $50m loan

The World Bank’s Board of Directors approved a $50 million loan to Tunisia with the aim of supporting the Resilience Project to face natural disasters and climate change.

Tunisia is vulnerable to a wide range of natural disasters, including floods, droughts, landslides, forest fires, sand encroachment and snowstorms.

The new loan is in addition to a $50 million loan provided by the French Development Agency (AFD), which aims to support and finance disaster risk management in Tunisia and strengthen the protection of people and properties, bringing the total funding of this project to $100 million, according to data from the World Bank.

The latest report on climate risks issued by the World Bank shows that Tunisia is highly vulnerable to climate change and is expected to face negative impacts due to higher temperatures, lower rainfall, more serious water shortages, as well as rising sea levels.

The World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia, Antonius Verheijen, said: “This project which was approved today, will help strengthen the government’s capacity regarding disaster risk management in order to protect Tunisians from more frequent and severe natural disasters,” adding that the programme will work on “enhancing investment, resilience to face disasters and general policies related to public development including natural disaster insurance market.”

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