# Tunisia Pitches Itself as Europe and Africa's Nearshoring Bridge

> With more than 200 automotive companies already operating there and executives talking up its engineering talent pool, Tunisia is positioning its location between three continents as a hard economic asset rather than just geography.

- Source: African Economy
- Canonical URL: https://africaneconomy.net/article/tunisia-nearshoring-opportunity-continents-meet
- Author: African Economy Staff
- Section: Trade & Investment
- Published: 2026-10-21T11:20:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T11:20:30.000Z
- Tags: Tunisia, nearshoring, manufacturing, AI, North Africa

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Tunisia is pitching its geographic position between Europe, Africa and the Middle East as a concrete economic advantage rather than an incidental fact of its location, pointing to an automotive sector that already counts more than 200 companies operating in the country and both container and truck routes linking the three regions, according to a report by Forbes Africa. Executives across multiple industries argue the country's real draw now goes beyond logistics, resting increasingly on its talent pool and manufacturing capability.

Deloitte Tunisia managing partner Karim Koundi said Tunisia's domestic market may be small, but its talent market is not, pointing to a competitive, high-quality workforce that punches above the country's size. LEONI Tunisia CEO Mohamed Larbi Rouis described the country as offering a highly compelling value proposition for companies pursuing nearshoring strategies, moving production closer to European customers without the costs of operating inside the EU itself. Cynoia co-founder and CEO Nassreddine Riahi pointed specifically to an incredible pool of young talent, including workers with internationally recognized credentials, as a draw for technology and services firms.

InstaDeep co-founder and CEO Karim Beguir offered a more ambitious long-term framing, describing Tunisia's potential to become what he called the refinery of the future, where abundant solar energy could power the GPU computing capacity needed for AI applications. Executives from Hyundai Tunisia, Marquardt Tunisia, Transcom Tunisia and Monasteam echoed similar points about the country's engineering depth and manufacturing infrastructure, suggesting a broader industry consensus is forming around Tunisia's role as a nearshoring hub rather than any single company's isolated bet.

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Originally published by African Economy. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://africaneconomy.net/article/tunisia-nearshoring-opportunity-continents-meet.