Proof in the Field
For a long time, Tunisia’s electronics industry has primarily told a story of production. Components come in, machines transform them, teams assemble, control, and export. This model has built a solid industrial foundation and established Tunisia within international value chains. But the next chapter could be different.
For Makrem Ghribi, CEO of Visteon Tunisia, and Mohamed Ben Ahmed, CEO of STMicroelectronics Tunisia, the issue is no longer just about whether Tunisia knows how to produce. The question today is its capacity to design, develop, industrialize, and, above all, to create more value around electronics. This evolution is not playing out in some distant future. It is already visible in factories, engineering centers, and projects related to artificial intelligence. The sole guiding principle: the Pact for the Competitiveness of Electronics Industries by 2030.
Electronics: The Key Component of the Automotive Industry
The car is addicted to electronics. Electrification, driver assistance systems, embedded software: each evolution adds chips and increases their power. The market follows this trajectory. According to Yole Group, automotive semiconductors could reach $132 billion by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 12% between 2024 and 2030. The value of chips embedded in a vehicle would rise from $759 to $1,332, while their number would increase from 824 to 1,158. In 2024, five groups dominated nearly half of the global market, led by Infineon, followed by NXP, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Renesas. Electrification, driver assistance systems, and the rise of electronic architectures fuel this race. More batteries, sensors, cameras, radars, and computing capabilities are entering vehicles. This transformation is already finding an echo in the Tunisian industry.
At Visteon Tunisia, the dashboard is no longer a simple display support. It concentrates screens, electronics, and software functions, with different requirements depending on the manufacturers and models. “Productions destined for Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, or Stellantis, for example, require more precise, more automated, and heavily controlled industrial processes,” states Makrem Ghribi. On the production lines, robotics, quality control, and traceability are now closely linked. “Bonding,” which allows for the precise assembly of the screen, requires fine control of production parameters to avoid optical defects. Magnesium die-casting, for its part, imposes particular constraints regarding safety and precision. “We have moved from consuming technology to mastering it,” he summarizes. The change is evident. He adds: “To production are now added embedded software, electronic systems, engineering, and the development of new products. By 2030, physical AI will redraw electronics: smarter, more local systems deeply integrated into our human world. For Tunisia, the stake is clear: not only to produce more, but to take a more important place in the design and development of these technologies.”
AI Enters the Factory and Expands the Playing Field
And this race to electronics is also transforming factories. At Visteon, artificial intelligence is used in targeted cases. Quality control is one example. Industrial vision systems compare images of a part with references to detect defects. AI allows going further by cross-referencing images and production data to detect anomalies that are more difficult to identify. According to Ghribi, some AI-based solutions could also prove less costly than traditional industrial vision equipment.
Maintenance constitutes another promising area of application: a production line generates data at each step, and their analysis allows for earlier detection of malfunctions, retrieval of solutions already applied in the past, and reduction of intervention time. Within the factory, work carried out with students also focuses on operator movements, aiming to identify sources of fatigue and unnecessary movements, in order to improve working conditions and “standard work.”
Moreover, the subject goes beyond factory optimization. Ben Ahmed explains that AI is creating new needs for electronics. Autonomous mobile robots used to move components, vision systems, or logistics flow automation require sensors, embedded systems, and computing capabilities. Humanoid robots could push this logic even further. Their development will mobilize the same technological building blocks, but with increased requirements in terms of perception, computing, and control, he explains. For Tunisia, the stake is not to manufacture a complete humanoid robot tomorrow. It is to identify the electronic components and functions that can be designed, integrated, or developed locally. AI thus changes the nature of the opportunity. It no longer serves only to improve a production line. It can also create new niches for Tunisian electronics companies, provided they position themselves on the technological building blocks that make up these new systems.
Mastering Technology to Move Upmarket
This move upmarket does not rely solely on equipment. It also plays out in the teams’ ability to use, adapt, and above all, improve processes. For Makrem Ghribi, a 1994 graduate of ENIM with 14 years of experience abroad, Tunisia already has a foundation built over the decades. Engineers and technicians trained by institutions such as ENIM, ENIT, INSAT, and ISET have accompanied the development of the electronics industry. But needs evolve with technologies. “We have moved from consuming technology to mastering it,” he explains. The proof: “Some improvements developed in Tunisia have been adopted internationally and have become references for other sites,” confides Makrem Ghribi.
The same echo appears at STMicroelectronics. Present in Tunisia since 2001, the group now counts approximately 250 engineers working particularly in R&D in the field of semiconductors. Mohamed Ben Ahmed adds that the next step involves more design, electronic design, R&D, and engineering services. In his remarks, he describes the diaspora as a hidden treasure for Tunisia that “can help connect the Tunisian ecosystem to international innovation networks.” The challenge is now to match skills with the new needs of the industry, particularly in R&D, electronic design, and engineering.
It is at this level that the Pact for the Competitiveness of Electronics Industries by 2030 takes on its full meaning for both industrialists. For both Makrem Ghribi and Mohamed Ben Ahmed, it must transform existing assets into concrete projects. The Elentica cluster can play this role as a bridge between industrialists, SMEs, startups, universities, and research centers. “Alone, we go fast. Together, we go further,” summarizes Mohamed Ben Ahmed.
However, innovation does not work in a closed loop. The other levers of the Pact complement it. This organization must also help better promote Tunisian know-how internationally, specifies Makrem Ghribi. “We need to better promote Tunisia,” he believes, to attract higher value-added projects. The challenge of the Pact is therefore very concrete. It is not just about displaying an ambition for 2030, but about creating the conditions for SMEs to design, test, industrialize, and sell new electronic solutions. This requires investments, research infrastructure, incentive mechanisms, and more effective bridges between industry and research. The change in model has already begun in the factories. Now, the ecosystem needs the means to transform this technological mastery into projects, and then into new activities.
