Tunisian Textile and Clothing Federation Expresses Concern Over Electricity Crisis
The Tunisian Textile and Clothing Federation (FTTH) is expressing its deep concern, on behalf of its members and the entire export-oriented manufacturing sector, over the management of the electricity crisis that has been affecting the country for six consecutive days. What was supposed to be an exceptional and temporary measure has become a long-term issue, without providing any reliable visibility to economic operators.
Impact on Industrial Activities
On the ground, industrial companies are no longer able to organize their activities. Power outages are occurring in an anarchic manner, without a stable schedule or respected time slots, affecting both day and night. This unpredictability makes it impossible to plan production, exposes sensitive equipment to material damage, and disrupts entire value chains, particularly in continuous process industries such as textiles, food processing, and mechanics.
International Consequences
The consequences extend far beyond the national borders. Our international partners and clients, particularly large brands and buyers who make Tunisia a strategic production base, are observing this situation with growing concern. The reliability of Tunisia as an industrial destination, built up over decades, is being directly tested by this energy instability and the lack of information surrounding it.
Socioeconomic Impact
The socioeconomic impact of this crisis is already catastrophic: production stoppages, financial overruns, loss of orders, degradation of competitiveness, and ultimately, job losses in labor-intensive sectors. This assessment is shared by all industrial sectors in the country.
Demands of the FTTH
In the face of this situation, the FTTH notes that the STEG (Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas) persists in communicating in an approximate and arbitrary manner. The published notices are late, non-definitive, regularly revised during the day, and do not allow any company to organize itself in advance. The absence of a reliable calendar, a precise and stabilized map of the affected areas, and a dedicated information channel for economic operators, transforms a technical crisis into a crisis of confidence.
The FTTH demands, with insistence:
- The immediate implementation of a dedicated information system for industrial companies, with a reliable forecast calendar and sufficient notice periods.
- Priority and differentiated treatment of industrial zones and parks, in order to preserve the continuity of the most sensitive production lines.
- Transparent, regular, and consistent institutional communication, commensurate with the gravity of the situation and the strategic role of the export-oriented industry.
- The immediate opening of a structured dialogue between the STEG, the concerned ministries, and the sectoral federations, to build short- and medium-term solutions.
Conclusion
The FTTH reaffirms its total availability to contribute, in a constructive manner, to the search for sustainable solutions to this energy crisis. However, it cannot be satisfied with a management approach that makes companies, their employees, and Tunisia's international reputation bear the weight of improvisation that could have, and should have, been avoided.
