An 'Arab Spring' for Corporatization? Tunisia's National Electricity Company (STEG)
STEG, the Tunisian public company for electricity and gas, has been created in 1962 and has since operated as a major state tool for national integration and social and economic development. Rural and urban electrification is among its main achievements. Since the 1990's, the company has followed a more commercial-oriented approach, with the aim that tariff reflect the full production cost and to prevent the growth of the manpower. Such a contractualization policy with the state can be regarded as a corporatization policy. With the Tunisian revolution in 2011, this policy is being challenged. On the one hand, STEG has hired numerous new employees ; on the other hand, it is under financial pressure due to non-payment and agressions. The energy transition toward renewable energy, and pressures from international money funders, push for a liberalization of the electricity sector at a time where increasing energy demand makes strong investments necessary. STEG is a turning of its history.