|
|
Article: Africa's model economy: Tunisia has been hailed as the model for other African and Middle Eastern countries to follow in their quest for modernisation and growth. But, as Anver Versi reports, the country's road to success has been long and arduous. (Tunisia: Africa's bridge to the world).
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- July 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In a recent article, Newsweek describes Tunisia thus: "Alone among Arab states, Tunisia has made real progress building an economy based on resources other than oil". The article goes on to quote the US Ambassador to Tunis, Rust Deming who says: "I believe Tunisia is well placed to be the first truly modern Arab republic."
Few will challenge Tunisia if it were to also claim to be the most modern African country. Foreigners sometimes overlook the fact that Tunisia is very much an African nation--in fact, the continent is named after Afriqiya as Tunisia was called by the Romans. While the majority of the population and the national language is Arabic, cultural roots ...