Cybersecurity: A Central Lever for Sovereignty and Competitiveness
Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue, but a central lever for sovereignty and competitiveness. In this context, cybersecurity has become an essential condition for preserving economic independence and strengthening the resilience of the productive fabric.
The Press - Cybersecurity: A Fundamental Component of Tunisia's Economic Sovereignty
Cybersecurity is today a fundamental component of Tunisia's economic sovereignty, as in an increasingly digitized world, data, digital infrastructures, and information flows constitute essential and vulnerable "value wells." Mohamed Adem Mokrani, a business lawyer and economic consultant, emphasizes that "if these elements fall into the hands of external partners or malicious actors, the country's strategic independence and resilience can be compromised."
The Fragility of Businesses
Cybersecurity protects Tunisian businesses from cyberattacks aimed at stealing sensitive data, sabotaging production chains, or paralyzing services. Mokrani highlights that the 2023 cybersecurity and cloud barometer in Tunisia indicates that 20% of surveyed companies have suffered a cyberattack in the last 12 months, and 12% do not even have the diagnostic capabilities to confirm whether they have been targeted or not.
These attacks can weaken the operational efficiency of businesses, increase costs (data recovery, ransom, loss of trust), and deter foreign investors seeking a safe environment for their capital. Mokrani adds that "a country unable to ensure the digital security of its economic actors loses credibility and finds itself in a position of dependence on foreign security providers or technological platforms that it does not control."
A Climate of Digital Trust
Moreover, the protection of critical infrastructures - power plants, water networks, telecommunications, hospitals, and transportation - is a pivot of economic sovereignty. "A successful attack on these axes can have cascading effects on the national economy, inducing massive losses, disruptions to essential public services, and destabilization of the functioning of the state," Mokrani emphasizes.
The development of so-called "intelligent" infrastructures makes these systems more efficient but also more vulnerable to sophisticated intrusions (in energy distribution networks, Scada systems, etc.). A vulnerability in a critical system can offer an external actor a strategic leverage, or even lead to digital blackmail on the national economy.
Digital Sovereignty
Digital sovereignty, i.e., Tunisia's ability to maintain control over its data, electronic exchanges, and platforms, depends directly on cybersecurity. According to specialists, Tunisia has only four national data centers, which creates a dependence on foreign infrastructures and exposes the country to risks of data "exfiltration" outside its territory.
If strategic or industrial Tunisian data is hosted abroad, it may be subject to foreign jurisdictions or access constraints imposed by external providers.
The National Plan "Tunisia Digital 2021-2025"
The national plan "Tunisia Digital 2021-2025" recognizes cybersecurity of data as a key axis for creating a climate of digital trust and strengthening digital sovereignty. Strengthening national cybersecurity is also a means of curbing "digital pillage," i.e., the illegal extraction of knowledge, algorithms, industrial secrets, or personal data that weakens local innovation capacity.
Our interlocutor indicates that "a Tunisia whose systems and businesses are well-protected is in a better position to develop its own technologies, digital services, and national cybersecurity solutions, without depending on foreign firms or suffering losses of intellectual value."
Thus, in the Tunisian context, cybersecurity is not just a technical or defensive issue; it is constitutive of economic sovereignty, protecting digital assets, ensuring the resilience of strategic infrastructures, guaranteeing data autonomy, and preserving the country's ability to innovate and attract investments in a trust-based framework.
"If Tunisia fails to secure this essential space, it risks finding itself in a position of dependence, vulnerability, and loss of competitiveness in the global economy."
