The privatization of public enterprises has served as a platform for developing the private sector in Tunisia since the 1980s. Privatization has also been a useful instrument in reinforcing the economy’s efficiency and consolidating its opening onto exterior markets. First launched in 1987, the privatization program has since consistently offered noteworthy opportunities for attracting the interest of foreign investors, including many operations for the sale of assets or stock in the capital of semi-public enterprises, as well as concessions to build highways, produce electricity, desalinate water, treat wastewater and solid waste, etc. The program’s results have encouraged local authorities, who find themselves with a wider margin for navigating the economic difficulties related to speculation and global market mutations. To the present day, 209 public and semi-public companies have been ceded, bringing the imposing sum of $4.6 billion into the public coffers, according to an official balance sheet, which specified that
