Tunisia has always had a particular talent: producing talent.
Three events from the past year are a reminder of this. On November 1, 2025, the Medusa submarine cable landed in Bizerte, making Tunisia the first African country connected to this new Mediterranean system. On July 23, 2026, the country's first supercomputer entered its testing phase at the El Khawarizmi Computing Center. In mid-August 2026, the national artificial intelligence strategy for 2026–2030 was presented to a restricted ministerial council.
And meanwhile, one figure continues to emerge, quietly but persistently: more than 7,000 engineers left the country in 2025, and the Order of Engineers expects more than 8,000 in 2026.
The entire Tunisian challenge in 2026 lies in this contrast. The country has accelerating infrastructure, a recognized pool of talent, and an AI strategy that has finally been presented. The question is no longer “Does Tunisia have the potential?”; it is “How can this potential be transformed into value created here?” Artificial intelligence is both the best lever for addressing this challenge and the clearest indicator of the work that remains to be done.
This study is intended for Tunisian decision-makers: executives, CIOs, marketing departments, and public-sector leaders. Its objective is to provide a reliable snapshot, a strategic perspective, and actionable recommendations. Sourced facts, clear-eyed analysis, and no political judgment.
Methodology. Data collected from September 1 to 23, 2026. Priority was given to primary sources (INS, INT, Central Bank of Tunisia, ministries, World Bank, IMF, ITU, UN, WIPO, Oxford Insights, Microsoft), supplemented by the Tunisian business press when the primary source was not accessible.
1. The Playing Field: A Connected, Educated and Demanding Population
The 2024 census counts 11,972,169 inhabitants, 72% of whom live in urban areas, with an average age of 35.5. The age pyramid is changing: 22.8% are under 15, but already 16.9% are aged 60 and over, compared with 11.7% in 2014. Marketing translation: Tunisia is no longer simply a young market; it is a multigenerational market, where connected seniors are becoming a target audience in their own right.
In terms of usage, DataReportal's Digital 2026 report (data from October 2025) records 10.4 million internet users, representing 84.3% of the population, and 7.83 million active social media identities, up 9.5% year-on-year. Mobile connections reached 15.5 million, or 125% of the population.
The economic context remains one of moderate growth: 2.5% in 2025 and 2.4% in the first half of 2026 according to the INS, with 2026 forecasts ranging from 2.1% (IMF) to 2.3% (World Bank). This is precisely what makes digital technology strategic. ICT services exports increased 2.3-fold between 2020 and 2024, reaching $517 million, and the sector employs approximately 120,000 people. Few Tunisian sectors show such momentum in exports.
2. Infrastructure: Acceleration Is Underway
5G is taking hold, first and foremost at home. The three operators launched commercial 5G simultaneously on February 14, 2025. The most spectacular success has been 5G home boxes: from 9,425 subscriptions in February 2025 to nearly 370,000 in July 2026. For many households, 5G has become an alternative to fixed-line connections.
Speeds have surged. Median mobile speed reached 67.1 Mbit/s, up 153% in one year, a jump directly linked to 5G.
Fiber is taking off. FTTH subscriptions doubled in one year, reaching 155,210 in the third quarter of 2025, compared with 29,019 two years earlier. ADSL, which accounted for 56% of fixed connections in 2023, now represents only 29%.
International connectivity is changing scale. The Medusa cable, operational since June 24, 2026, connects Bizerte to Marseille with a capacity of 22 to 24 Tbit/s per fiber pair; for Tunisie Telecom, international bandwidth has increased eightfold. On the hosting side, Orange Tunisia inaugurated a Tier III data center near Sousse in May 2025, while Tunisie Telecom promotes its Carthage data center, certified for national cloud services.
Cybersecurity is becoming a senior-management issue. The National Cybersecurity Agency recorded more than 25,000 denial-of-service attacks in 2025, and 35,000 in the first half of 2026 alone. A circular dated September 2, 2026, requires public administrations to implement digital hygiene measures, including multi-factor authentication.
Key takeaway for executives. 5G and fiber make cloud services, high-definition video, and real-time AI services possible today, including outside major urban centers. But faster infrastructure also creates greater exposure: cybersecurity and data protection must rise on the agenda at the same pace as connection speeds.
3. Digital Marketing: Video, Trust and Regulation
YouTube Takes the Lead, Instagram Accelerates
With 7.83 million people reachable through advertising, YouTube now offers the country's largest advertising audience, neck and neck with Facebook (7.80 million). TikTok reaches 6 million adults. But the strongest growth is on Instagram (+15.7%, reaching 4.05 million). For brands, the signal is clear: video and imagery have become the common language of Tunisian marketing.
LinkedIn, a Professional Influence Network
2.7 million LinkedIn members, up 12.5% in one year: in a country where skills are the primary export product, LinkedIn is simultaneously a recruitment channel, an employer-brand showcase, and an international prospecting tool. It is also where the battle for talent is taking place.
Social Commerce and Cash on Delivery
Tunisian e-commerce has largely developed through social networks. Fashion retailers derive most of their traffic from Facebook and Instagram, while high-tech websites (Mytek, Tunisianet, Spacenet) dominate through organic search. According to a study reported in 2025, more than 56% of online shoppers still pay cash on delivery, and 90% of them pay in cash.
Three realities shape the advertising market:
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Measurement remains incomplete. There is no official figure for the digital advertising market. Expert estimates place digital at around 20% of local advertising budgets, without a published methodology.
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Campaign payments raise questions. Spending on major platforms is billed in foreign currencies, raising compliance issues under the foreign-exchange regime.
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Regulation is being prepared. A draft law on digital marketing and influencer activity (No. 042/2024) is being examined by Parliament; a study day was held on April 29, 2026. Brands working with creators would be well advised to anticipate transparency requirements.
AI Enters Customer Relations
Pioneers are emerging in banking, insurance, and telecommunications. Amen Bank, which has operated a chatbot since 2020, announced a new version in early 2026 based on language models in the Tunisian dialect, designed as a “financial coach”. GAT Assurances offers AI-based tire-wear diagnostics from a simple photograph, while Carte Assurances has integrated AI into automobile claims processing. At Ooredoo Tunisia, an AI agent for the call center was announced for 2026.
Key takeaway for marketing departments. Three priorities: produce video continuously (generative AI significantly reduces the cost), speak the actual language of customers (Derja, not only Modern Standard Arabic or French), and prepare for compliance: the future personal-data law and the draft influencer law will professionalize the market.
4. Payments and E-Commerce: The End of the Check Reshuffles the Cards
This is the year's major financial story. Law No. 2024-41, which came into force on February 2, 2025, profoundly changed the check: a 30,000-dinar ceiling, real-time verification through the TuniChèque platform, and named checks with QR codes. The effect was immediate: 7.9 million check transactions in 2025, compared with 24.5 million in 2024, a decrease of 67.5%.
Where did these payments go? Partly into digital channels:
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5.85 million bank cards at the end of 2025, and 6.15 million by the end of June 2026;
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771 million dinars in online payments during the first half of 2026 (+28%), across 1,456 active merchant websites;
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1.77 billion dinars paid by mobile in 2025 (+59%), and 512,000 active electronic wallets by the end of June 2026.
But payments also shifted toward cash and bills of exchange, which increased by 161%. Cash in circulation reached a record 30 billion dinars in August 2026, up 16% year-on-year. A clear reading: the check reform opened a window for digital payments, but the race is now between cards, mobile payments, and banknotes.
The payments ecosystem is becoming more structured: 7 payment institutions now operate, including walletii, Ooredoo's subsidiary, licensed in early 2026. And one development could change everything: the proposed new Foreign Exchange Code, currently being examined by Parliament, provides for special accounts for payments on online platforms. Its adoption had not been confirmed as of the date of this study; it is one of the most important signals to watch for e-commerce, cloud services, and digital advertising.
On the market side, the landscape has been reshaped around local players and specialists. Jumia left Tunisia at the end of 2024, while Glovo describes Tunisia as its fastest-growing market worldwide in 2024. The lesson: in Tunisia, size does not win; proximity does (logistics, catalog, and service adapted to the local market).
5. Digital Transformation: The State Digitizes, the Ecosystem Searches for Its Direction
An Administration Going Mobile
The 2026–2030 Development Plan includes 192 digital projects, 52% of which had advanced by March 2026, with the goal of fully digitizing public services by 2030. Mobile Digital Identity, or Mobile ID, has been mandatory since July 1, 2026, for certain procedures, including investment declarations. And the Khadamet application, announced in August 2026, is expected to bring together more than 40 services accessible through Mobile ID. Electronic invoicing is also being rolled out more broadly from 2026 onward.
A Legal Framework Under Construction
Several major texts are currently under review: the new organic law on personal data protection (123 articles, including the creation of a data protection officer), the new Foreign Exchange Code, and “Startup Act 2.0”. None had been definitively adopted as of September 23, 2026, according to the sources consulted. For companies, this is the time to anticipate rather than react.
Recognized Startups, Funding to Revive
Tunisia has 1,165 labeled startups and 17 scale-ups, with combined revenue of approximately $300 million. The country has demonstrated that it can produce champions: InstaDeep, founded in Tunis, was acquired by BioNTech for an amount that could reach approximately £562 million, while Expensya was acquired by Medius in the same year. In 2025, Tunisian startups raised $39 million, including notable transactions such as Thunder Code's $9 million raise, for its AI agents specialized in software testing. By contrast, the first half of 2026 was very quiet, with approximately $0.3 million raised according to the available data. Large corporations also play a role: the 8th cohort of the Orange Fab accelerator, launched in March 2026, is entirely dedicated to AI. Startup Act 2.0, currently in preparation, will need to revive the momentum.
The Barometer: Talent Ahead of Governance
The rankings paint a consistent picture. Strengths are clear: a score of 80.1 out of 100 on the ITU 2026 ICT Development Index, 76th place in the Global Innovation Index (+5 places), and 2nd place in Africa for AI talent readiness. Areas for improvement concern governance and impact: 87th out of 193 in the UN E-Government Development Index, 88th out of 195 in the Government AI Readiness Index, and 96th out of 127 in the Network Readiness Index.
A constructive reading: Tunisia is further ahead in skills than in its frameworks. This is good news: adopting a law, allocating a budget, or establishing a roadmap is faster than training a generation of engineers.
Key takeaway for business leaders. The state is moving toward mobile services, digital identity, and electronic invoicing. Companies interacting with the government will have to follow. And the texts under preparation (data, foreign exchange, startups) will reshape the rules of the game: appointing a data-compliance officer now is a low-cost, high-return decision.
6. Artificial Intelligence: From Talent Pool to Strategy
This is the central theme of this edition. Tunisia has a unique history with AI: the private and academic ecosystems have often moved ahead of public strategy.
A National Strategy Finally Presented
Work on a national AI strategy began in 2018, and a memorandum between four ministries was signed in 2022 to prepare it. In mid-August 2026, the Minister of Communication Technologies presented the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030 to a restricted ministerial council. Its stated principles include human primacy, national sovereignty and data protection, and respect for ethical values. Its highlighted strengths include scientific capabilities (the government claims a global 29th position for AI publications), the Startup Act, and the country's geographic position.
The next step is awaited: publication of the operational roadmap, budget, and governing body, which had not yet been made public as of the date of this study. Civil society has also mobilized: the ATUGE white paper, presented at the Tunisia Global Forum in July 2026, puts forward 41 recommendations for 2030. In September 2026, the AI-Forward Summit in Hammamet brought together more than 450 participants around sovereignty and development through AI.
Computing Infrastructure Is Arriving
The country's first supercomputer, funded primarily through a 32-million-dinar Chinese donation, has been in testing since July 23, 2026, at the El Khawarizmi Center, ahead of its opening to the public and private sectors. Ooredoo announced a GPU-as-a-service computing offering with NVIDIA. For researchers, startups, and companies, access to local computing power is becoming a reality.
Adoption Is Growing
According to Microsoft's AI diffusion report, 13.5% of Tunisians aged 15 to 64 used a generative AI tool during the first quarter of 2026, compared with 12.3% in the first half of 2025. A survey by the INT observatory, based on internet users' self-reported answers, gives an even broader picture: 47.9% of internet users say they use AI. The two figures measure different things, but they tell the same story: AI has already entered the daily lives of a significant share of the connected population.
Derja as a Competitive Advantage
Tunisia was a pioneer in dialect-language models: TunBERT, the first Tunisian-dialect model, was released as open source in 2021 by InstaDeep and iCompass. In 2025, Labess-7B, a conversational model in Derja, was released under an open license. And in 2026, the banking sector began adopting it through Amen Bank's upcoming chatbot. For brands, this represents a rare opportunity: assistants that truly speak the language of their customers.
Use Cases Are Becoming Structured
In companies, documented use cases mainly concern banking (fraud prevention, scoring, chatbots), insurance (claims, image-based diagnostics), and telecommunications (customer service, cloud services). The Central Bank itself has adopted a charter governing the use of generative AI, and the Press Council published a national charter on AI in journalism in February 2026.
Let's be clear-eyed: there is no public statistic on AI adoption by Tunisian companies, and no named, documented industrial use case could be identified. As elsewhere, some usage is probably invisible, driven by employees using consumer tools without a formal framework. This is both a risk (confidentiality, quality) and a productivity opportunity that needs to be organized.
The Talent Challenge
This is the Tunisian paradox. The country trains professionals who are in demand worldwide, and that is precisely why they leave: 46,000 engineers have left the country over ten years, out of 105,000 registered with the Order of Engineers. AI could worsen this trend, because AI skills are among the most mobile in the market. It could also reverse it if Tunisian companies offer sufficiently ambitious projects, and if the diaspora becomes a network for investment and knowledge transfer rather than a pure loss. The story of InstaDeep, which maintains a presence in Tunis and multiplies training initiatives in the regions, shows that this model is possible.
Key takeaway. Tunisia does not have a talent problem; it has a retention and value-creation challenge. The 2026–2030 AI strategy will be judged by its ability to create sufficiently ambitious projects here so that the best talent wants to stay—or return.
7. Seven Priorities for Tunisian Decision-Makers
Here, as a practitioner who supports organizations in their transformation, are the seven areas I recommend opening up immediately.
1. Train before equipping. Start with your managers: they are the ones who will transform practices and give talent a reason to stay.
2. Establish a framework for AI use. A simple charter (authorized tools, prohibited data, human validation) protects the company and enables usage. The BCT and the Press Council have shown the way.
3. Anticipate the data-protection law. Appoint a responsible person, map your data processing activities, and clean your customer databases: this is both an upcoming obligation and the fuel for useful AI.
4. Choose three use cases with fast ROI. Customer relations, content production, document processing: start where gains can be measured in weeks.
5. Speak Derja. Your content, chatbots, and assistants should speak the real language of your customers. The models already exist.
6. Take advantage of the digital-payment window. The check reform has changed habits: offer card and mobile payments everywhere, and closely monitor the future Foreign Exchange Code.
7. Make retention a strategic project. Ambitious AI projects, continuous training, and links with the diaspora: the best talent strategy is a good project.
8. Tunisia 2030: Three Possible Trajectories
Foresight is not prediction: it is a tool for preparing decisions. Based on the data in this study, I see three trajectories.
Prudent scenario: the export of talent. The AI strategy remains without visible budget or governance, engineer departures remain above 8,000 per year, cash and cash-on-delivery remain dominant, and ICT services remain confined to outsourcing.
Trend scenario: the services hub. 5G and fiber become widespread in major cities, AI spreads through banking, insurance, and telecommunications, ICT services exports continue to grow, and Derja language models multiply through startups.
Accelerated scenario: the leap toward value. A modernized Foreign Exchange Code opens access to cloud services and platforms, the AI strategy is funded, governed, and measured, the diaspora becomes an investment network, and Tunisia exports AI products rather than only talent.
What signals should be monitored? I identify four: publication of the roadmap and budget for the AI strategy, adoption of the new Foreign Exchange Code, adoption of the personal-data law, and the evolution of engineer departures.
Conclusion: From Talent Pool to Value
Tunisia in 2026 has what many countries are trying to build: a connected population, accelerating infrastructure, internationally recognized skills, and an AI strategy that has now been presented. What remains to be written is the transition from talent pool to value: ensuring that these talents create tomorrow's products, services, and companies here.
The good news is that this challenge largely depends on organizations themselves. Training, establishing frameworks, selecting use cases, and offering ambitious projects: every Tunisian company can start tomorrow morning.
