Tunisia - Environmental Upgrading and Rehabilitation of the Production Units of the Tunisian Chemical Group Support Project (PAER-GCT) (AFDB-P-TN-BB0-010)

Regions
  • Middle East and North Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Tunisia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Gabès, Skhira (Sfax) and M'Dhilla (Gafsa)
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • African Development Bank (AFDB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jan 28, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Tunisia
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Industry and Trade
  • Mining
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 110.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 110.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 144.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Media Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AFDB website

Updated in EWS Apr 14, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the AfDB, the objective of the project is to sustainably improve the environmental and operational performance of the Tunisian Chemical Group by significantly reducing atmospheric emissions and rehabilitating critical production units. The project focuses on upgrading sulfuric and phosphoric acid units, modernizing the Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) workshop at M'Dhilla, installing advanced gas treatment systems to reduce sulfur dioxide and other pollutant emissions, and improving energy efficiency through cogeneration and the replacement of a turbo generator to enable 23 MW of self-generated electricity. These investments will reduce SO? and fluorinated emissions, improve air quality, enhance compliance with environmental standards, stabilize fertilizer production essential for agricultural value chains, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 122,900 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. The project also strengthens environmental and social governance, introduces improved monitoring systems, and enhances community dialogue to restore social acceptability of industrial activities in affected regions.

The Environmental Upgrading and Rehabilitation of the Production Units of the Tunisian Chemical Group Support Project (PAER-GCT) is a sovereign-guaranteed investment operation aimed at modernizing and environmentally upgrading the production facilities of the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT) in Gabès, Skhira (Sfax) and M'Dhilla (Gafsa). The total project cost amounts to USD 144 million, of which USD 110 million is financed through an African Development Bank (AfDB) sovereign loan guaranteed by the Republic of Tunisia, while the Tunisian Chemical Group provides USD 34 million in counterpart funding. The project forms part of a broader USD 595 million industrial recovery and modernization program and aligns with Tunisia’s Vision 2035, the National Development Plan 2023–2025, and the AfDB Country Strategy Paper 2024–2029. It supports the Bank’s priorities on industrialization, climate resilience, energy efficiency, and sustainable development, while addressing urgent environmental challenges in environmentally sensitive and socially fragile regions.

The project will directly benefit approximately 4,300 employees of the Tunisian Chemical Group by improving occupational health and safety conditions, stabilizing employment, and enhancing career prospects. It is expected to create 3,864 jobs by 2030, including around 1,429 for women and a significant proportion for young people under 29 years old, particularly in disadvantaged regions. Local communities in Gabès, Skhira (Sfax), and M'Dhilla (Gafsa) will benefit from measurable reductions in air pollution, improved environmental compliance, and strengthened transparency and dialogue with the company. Farmers will benefit indirectly through improved availability and stability of fertilizer supply, contributing to agricultural productivity and food security. Institutional beneficiaries include the Government of Tunisia and regional authorities, who will benefit from improved industrial performance, strengthened environmental governance, enhanced resilience of the phosphate value chain, and increased economic stability in regions heavily dependent on industrial activity.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by Devex, Tunisia is the second country in the world to value a large percentage of its phosphate rock production (85%). GCT processes approximately 6.5 million tonnes of Tunisian rock phosphate each year to produce Merchant Phosphoric Acid (MGA), Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) and Calcium Phosphate (DCP) ).

In addition, GCT produces Agricultural Ammonium Nitrate and Porous Ammonium Nitrate intended primarily for the local market.

The GCT has 4 production sites spread over 4 regions of southern Tunisia: Gabes, Sfax, Skhira, and M'dhilla.

The GCT employs more than 6500 people.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - GROUPE CHIMIQUE TUNISIEN (Tunisian Chemical Group) Client Mining

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

AfDB Team Leader:

Olivier Georges Stoullig
Email: o.stoullig@afdb.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/

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