Tunisia Faces Summer of Water and Power Shortages Amid Blame Dispute

Tunisia has endured a summer marked by severe water and electricity shortages affecting millions of residents, with queues for bottled water and power cuts lasting more than ten hours in some areas. Temperatures reached close to 50°C during the crisis.

On September 2, Hedi Baccour, president of the Trade Association of Supermarket Chains, told Tunisian outlet Mosaïque FM that around 2.3 million bottles of mineral water were being distributed daily to large supermarkets in Tunis and surrounding areas, offering some relief to the capital's residents.

In August, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Society (STEG) introduced temporary power cuts in certain regions to ease pressure on the national grid. The strain has been attributed to increased air conditioning use and higher tourist numbers during summer, as well as electricity demands from the National Company for Water Exploitation and Distribution (SONEDE), which relies on electric pumps for its water systems.

Long queues have formed outside shops and delivery points, sometimes late at night, as residents seek rationed water supplies. The shortages have affected multiple regions, including Sfax, Tunis, and coastal tourist areas, where people have reported inflated prices and black market activity. The situation has fuelled public frustration over the government's handling of the crisis.

A resident of Jemmal, near Monastir, described how daily life has had to be organised around unpredictable water deliveries, with supplies often withheld during the day and distributed late at night or before sunset, leading to chaotic scenes as residents compete for limited bottles.

Tunisian authorities have attributed some of the disruptions to what the president described as deliberate sabotage, while observers cited in reporting on the crisis point to years of underinvestment in infrastructure as an underlying cause.