Approved agricultural investment down 32.8% in April 2024 (APIA)

Tunis: The value of approved investments in the agricultural sector fell 32.8% to TND 100.4 million by late April 2024, generating 804 permanent jobs compared with 946 by late April 2023, reads the Agricultural Situation Report published Tuesday by the Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (French: APIA)Likewise, the number of agricultural investments dropped 6.8% to 830. Compared to the same period in 2018-2022, private agricultural investments dipped 36.5% in number and 47.8% in value.APIA figures also show 86% of approved investments are channeled to agricultural projects, 24.7% to fishing projects and 19.2% to primary processing projects.Approved investments for young people rose to TND 13.6 million in April 2024 against TND 10.9 million in April 2023.Approved investment operations with foreign participation amounted to TND 1 million in April 2024 up from TND 300,000 in April 2023.A total of TND 32.2 million in subsidies was allocated for approved investments, that is 32% of the investment volume.Subsidies for the acquisition of agricultural equipment rose to TND 14.4 million (45% of all subsidies). Regional development investments fell to TND 3.6 million in April 2024, compared with TND 4.5 million in the first four months of 2023.The Benefit Allocation Committees have approved 11 land loans worth TND 1.6 million. These loans are expected to include 84 hectares of land into the economic cycle.As for investment intentions, APIA said that 2,571 investment operations worth TND 445.9 million (-9.1%) had been reported by late April 2024.Investment intentions in the servie sector edged up from TND 58.2 million to TND 86.2 million, while the number of investments reported online rose to 1,688 worth TND 309.4 million.Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse