CPG suffers from ghost workers

The Government of Tunisia intends to revive the operations of the Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) enterprises, which will be a great blessing for the country suffering from high unemployment, low investment and poor economic development.

According to Tunisian Industry Minister Slim Feriani, the number of CPG employees has tripled over the past year compared to 2010, however, many of them “not producing and not adding value”.

At the end of 2019, CPG is expected to bring phosphate rock production to 4.1 million tons, compared to 2.8 million tons in 2018. Before the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, it mined up to 8.2 million tons of phosphorites per year.

While the CPG is suffering from “major economic problems,” it can be salvaged, Feriani has confirmed.

“The only solution is to improve production and productivity,” he considers.

He described many of the company’s 30,000 employees as “ghost workers” hired “to maintain social peace.”

Source: Bloomberg