Tunisia is developing a continental land corridor to connect its northern coast to sub-Saharan Africa, Trade and Export Development Minister Samir Abid announced Wednesday, framing the project as a strategic move to expand the country’s African economic footprint.
The corridor will originate at the Ras Jedir border crossing and extend southward through Libya to Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic.
Tunisia is coordinating the project with Libyan authorities, according to a statement from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.
Abid made the announcement at a bilateral business forum held at the headquarters of the Export Promotion Center in Tunis, co-chaired with Niger’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Abdoulaye Seydou.
Niger’s ambassador to Tunisia, accredited from Algiers, attended alongside business delegations from both countries.
The minister described the southward push as a strategic imperative, saying the corridor would reduce the cost and time of export operations and ease logistics constraints that have long limited trade between Tunisia and landlocked Sahelian markets.
Tunisia has been among the early participants in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)- guided trade initiative, registering nearly 400 export transactions by Tunisian firms using certificates of origin in African markets.
Those transactions span sectors including mechanical and electronic components, textiles, garments, and food industries, according to the ministry.
Trade between Tunisia and Niger remains limited relative to the potential both sides acknowledged.
Abid said shared responsibility requires restructuring bilateral exchanges, diversifying products in both directions, encouraging industrial partnerships, and facilitating investment across the two countries. Seydou expressed alignment with that assessment.
The corridor project, if completed, would position Tunisia as a northern gateway for AfCFTA-linked trade flows into West and Central Africa, linking its export base to some of the continent’s fastest-growing consumer markets.
