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The liquidation of Namaa Tounes, the economic arm of the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia.
The Islamist movement Ennahdha has lost a strategic economic tool with the official liquidation of the association Namaa Tunisia, an entity it founded in 2011 to extend its economic influence both domestically and internationally.
The Dissolution of a Key Economic Pillar
In March 2025, the Tunisian judiciary began enforcing a court decision issued in April 2024, ordering the dissolution of Namaa Tunisia. Officially, the association aimed to support economic development in Tunisia through foreign partnerships, assistance to unemployed graduates, guidance for small business projects, and investment promotion in underprivileged regions.
In practice, however, Namaa primarily served to connect Tunisian business circles with international allies of Ennahdha. Among its partners were the Qatari Businessmen Association, chaired by billionaire Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani; the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA); the Libyan Businessmen Council linked to the Tripoli government; and the Azerbaijani branch of MÜSİAD.
Interrupted Regional Ambitions
Ennahdha aimed to turn Tunis into a regional economic hub. In 2015, Namaa had planned to host two major international economic events in cooperation with Azerbaijan. However, these events were ultimately canceled following the 2014 electoral victory of Nidaa Tounes and President Béji Caïd Essebsi.
The late Amor Belkhiria, co-founder of Namaa and Ennahdha’s African affairs coordinator, had also initiated outreach efforts toward sub-Saharan Africa, including the launch of an African Economic Forum in Tunis in January 2018.
In February 2021, Namaa Tunisia announced plans to expand by establishing regional branches and forming a committee of experts. However, following President Kaïs Saïed’s power grab in July 2021, Ennahdha was sidelined from the political scene. In 2022, Namaa came under legal scrutiny, accused of money laundering and financing terrorism in Tunisia and abroad.
Collapse of a Network, Rise of Legal Troubles
With Namaa’s dissolution, Ennahdha loses a vital network that enhanced its economic influence, international connections, and social footprint. This blow comes at a time when most of the movement’s leadership is already behind bars and its political clout severely diminished.
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