Tunisia's state-run Gafsa Phosphate, its main exporter of the chemical, has suspended production after sit-in protests by unemployed youths demanding work halted deliveries, it said on Friday. Tunisia, once among the world's top phosphate exporters, has lost market share to rivals such as Morocco because of repeated strikes and sit-ins since the revolution that toppled former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
"Dozens of unemployed people who want jobs are disrupting production and transfer of phosphate by train," company official Ali Houchati told Reuters. "The sit-ins forced us to stop production and suspend all financial transactions of the Gafsa Phosphate Company." Tunisia completed its democratic transition successfully with a new constitution and free elections which produced a coalition government comprising secular and Islamist opponents.
But lack of development and unemployment, which has risen to 15 percent from about 11 percent in 2010, remain major grievances. While Tunisia produced about 8.26 million tonnes of phosphate in 2010, in the four years since 2011 output totalled only 11.2 million tonnes, the company said. During the first five months of 2015, it produced 650,000 tonnes compared with 1.3 million in the same period last year.
The North Africa country relies heavily on phosphate, along with tourism, for foreign currency. Officials say the sector has lost about $2 billion over the last four years due to protests and strikes. A drop in phosphate production and a fall in tourism after a militant attack in March could trim economic growth which the government forecasts at 3 percent this year.
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