Moroccan artisans in Tunisia say rising costs and weak market conditions are preventing them from completing production, pushing them to sell unfinished work to local companies that later market it as Tunisian.
Producers say they still carry the skill, labour and design associated with Moroccan craftsmanship, but no longer control the final stages of production, branding or sale.
Abdellah El Jawhari, a Moroccan ceramic artisan based in Tunisia, told hespress the economic situation and the rising cost of raw materials had made it difficult for craftsmen to finance full production cycles on their own.
That leaves many unable to reach the finishing stage and forces them to sell their work early to Tunisian companies, which then place their own labels on the products and market them as fully Tunisian goods.
He said the pressure had already pushed some Moroccan artisans to return home, while others had remained in Tunisia because of family obligations, including marriage and children, despite the worsening business environment.
Abdellah El Ghafi, head of the Association for the Advancement of the Moroccan Community in Tunisia, said many Moroccan craftsmen there hoped to benefit from the momentum in Morocco’s handicraft sector, including training and support programmes launched by public authorities. He said those artisans should be treated as part of the sector’s wider Moroccan ecosystem, not as workers cut off from it because they live abroad.
He added that Moroccan crafts, from zellige and plasterwork to leather, sewing and woodwork, enjoy a strong reputation in Tunisia and elsewhere in the Maghreb. But without structured support, he said, that recognition risks benefiting intermediaries more than the artisans themselves.
El Ghafi also called for stronger Moroccan Tunisian partnerships in the sector, arguing that handicrafts should gain a clearer place in bilateral trade, which he said stands at about 930 million Tunisian dinars.
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