(Corrects acronym of project to ‘ELMED’ in paragraph 3)
TUNIS (Reuters) – The World Bank Group has lent Tunisia $268.4 million to finance an electrical interconnection project with Italy that will link energy networks between Tunisia and Europe, TAP state news agency said on Thursday.
The agreement ends a temporary pause in the bank’s work with Tunisia that followed comments by Tunisian President Kais Saied about migrants from sub-Saharan Africa earlier this year that were blamed for triggering racist harassment and violence.
The total cost of the project, known as “ELMED”, is about 850 million euros.
Italy is looking to become a European energy hub and creating a link to Africa to import electricity generated from renewable energy sources plays into its strategy to eliminate its gas dependence from Russia.
(This story has been corrected to amend the acronym of the project to ‘ELMED’ in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Clauda Tanios; Editing by Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)
