Bridges
JICA
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) marks in 2025 half a century in Tunisia — volunteers, loans, grants and technical cooperation in the service of shared development.
- 50years of cooperation (1975–2025)
- 532Japanese volunteers deployed
- 143 kmof highways financed
- >10 %of national electricity
- 1 800+trainees hosted in Japan
- 40+yen-loan projects
Cooperation began on 24 April 1975 with the arrival in Tunis of two Japanese volunteers (nurses) and the first technical-cooperation projects in health and fisheries. Since then JICA has worked along two main axes: developing economic infrastructure, human resources and security capacity; and improving living conditions to reduce regional disparities.
The Volunteer Programme (JOCV)
Tunisia was the 3rd Middle-Eastern country to join Japan’s volunteer programme, in 1974. Over half a century, 532 Japanese volunteers have been deployed (372 junior and 160 senior — the latter since 2001), across health, electronics, sport, music, agriculture, audiovisual arts and Japanese-language teaching — including 16 martial-arts masters (judo, karate, kendo) since 1976.
Sectors of cooperation
- Water & sanitation — Water supply, desalination and flood protection across the country.
- Transport — Bridges, motorways and rail electrification — 143 km of highways financed.
- Energy — Thermal and combined-cycle power plants providing over 10% of national electricity.
- Rural development — Irrigation, reforestation and water-saving agriculture in the southern oases.
- Science & technology — Borj Cedria technopark and joint SATREPS research on bio-resources.
- Healthcare — Reproductive health, medical-equipment management and COVID-19 response.
- Industry (Kaizen) — Continuous quality and productivity improvement for Tunisian enterprises.
Flagship projects
- Radès Combined-Cycle Power Plant
- Sfax Sea-Water Desalination Plant
- Gabès–Médenine Trans-Maghreb Corridor
- Metropolitan Railway Electrification (Tunis–Borj Cedria)
- Mejerda River Flood Control
- Radès–La Goulette Bridge
- Borj Cedria Science & Technology Park
Triangular cooperation: Japan–Tunisia–Africa
Since TICAD 8 (Tunis, 2022) and the entry into force of the technical-cooperation agreement in 2023, Tunisia serves as a relay to train other African countries — industrial Kaizen, medical-equipment management and interventional cardiology — through third-country training programmes.
Training in Japan
Since 1970, over 1,800 Tunisians have trained in Japan (the KCCP programme) in infrastructure, industry, water, health and higher education; the ABE Initiative lets young talents pursue a master’s or doctorate there. Alumni stay connected through a dedicated Tunisian beneficiaries’ association.
Milestones
- 1974Tunisia joins Japan’s volunteer programme
- 1975First volunteers arrive; first projects (health, fisheries)
- 1977First yen loan (maritime transport capacity)
- 1999Loan for the Radès–La Goulette Bridge
- 2014Radès combined-cycle plant; Mejerda flood control
- 2017Sfax sea-water desalination plant
- 2022TICAD 8 in Tunis; bilateral technical-cooperation agreement
- 202550th anniversary of JICA in Tunisia
“50 years of JICA in Tunisia” publication (PDF) ↗JICA Tunisia office ↗Tunisian JICA-in-Japan training alumni association (Facebook) ↗
Source: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), 50th-anniversary publication, 2025.