Construction of King Salman Ibn Abdelaziz University Hospital in Kairouan to Begin
The construction of the King Salman Ibn Abdelaziz University Hospital in Kairouan is set to officially commence on Thursday, December 11, 2025, following the signing of the contract by the Minister of Health, Mustapha Ferjani, and the Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia, Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Saqr, on Wednesday.
Project Overview
This multidisciplinary project is funded by the Saudi Development Fund as part of an initial donation of $85 million. The project, which was suspended in 2017 due to the non-compliance of the previous contractor, has been relaunched with a Tunisian-Saudi consortium in charge of its implementation. The expected completion time for the hospital will not exceed 36 months. According to Minister Ferjani, this relaunch marks "the return of a strategic national project".
Hospital Features
The hospital, built to international standards, will include several medical specialties and modern equipment. Its capacity will be 500 beds, extendable to 700, and its location on a total area of 69,000 m² will bring health services closer to the inhabitants of Kairouan and neighboring regions, while contributing to reducing the isolation of inland areas.
Project Costs
The updated cost of the project is approximately $143 million, excluding medical equipment, due to delays since its initial approval in July 2017, following the signing of a protocol agreement between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The minister also specified that this project is independent of the future "Les Aghlabides Medical City of Kairouan", a large-scale presidential project whose studies will resume in early 2026 as part of an agreement with China, and whose cost is estimated to be around ten times that of the King Salman Ibn Abdelaziz Hospital.
Commitment to the Project
For his part, the Saudi ambassador assured that all resources and willingness were gathered for the launch of the works, describing the hospital as a model of an advanced hospital center to be followed.
