Tunisian conglomerate Loukil looks beyond its moribund home market
Cairo — Tunisian conglomerate Group Loukil is seeking to expand in Africa as a powerful union movement and delays in government reforms make it increasingly difficult to do business at home, CEO Bassem Loukil said. "Our target between now and 2019 is to have 50% of our sales from outside Tunisia, spreading the risk. We don’t see any growth potential in Tunisia so if you want to grow and take advantage of your experience you have to go outside," he said in an interview in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Tunisia has battled to restore growth since the 2011 uprising that ousted long-time dictator Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali and ushered in years of political instability. The government agreed a four-year $2.9bn loan facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 but has struggled to push through painful reforms in a nascent democracy with a strong union movement. Loukil said strict labour rules were hampering business and delaying much-needed reforms to end a currency b...
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