Haunted by ghost workers, Tunisian phosphate miner seeks revival

Tunisia says it’s on track to restore once economically crucial phosphate output to levels approaching those before the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, as its beleaguered state-owned miner undergoes a shakeup. Output will probably be at least 4.1-million tons in 2019, up from 2.8-million tons the previous year, Industry Minister Slim Feriani said. Before the revolt that unseated President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked long-running labour unrest, Tunisia was one of the world’s largest producers of the fertilizer component, creating as much as 8.2-million tons per year.