BALTIMORE/BIZERTE (CI MENA) (Update on November 28, 2018 to add interview of Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) Founder and CEO Kevin Plank by Carlyle Group co-Chairman and co-Founder David Rubenstein)  — America’s fastest growing city is becoming the key driver in reviving the fortunes of the Arab world’s first representative democracy – Tunisia through the Sister City partnership between Baltimore, Maryland and the ancient and strategic port city of Bizerte,Tunisia.

[Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and Tunisian Member of Parliament and highest elected official of Bizerte, Ali Belakhoua filmed by Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass agreeing on Sister City partnership during Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ALC in Washington, DC. September 20, 2017]

Tunisia’s strategic importance was formalized by President Barack Obama when he declared the North African nation as America’s most strategic non-NATO US ally and the nation’s strategic importance for the US continues with President Donald J. Trump under the leadership of US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Dr. Kamel Ben Amara, the newly elected Mayor of Bizerte, said that his first order of business will be to formalize the Baltimore Bizerte Sister City and make it an engine for business to business and people to people dialogue.

Baltimore Mayor  Catherine Pugh greenlighted the historic Sister City partnership to be formally celebrated later this year or early 2019  following a meeting with the than highest elected official of Bizerte, Tunisian Member of Parliament, Ali Belakhoua, at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference in Washington DC on September 20, 2017.

The Sister City between Baltimore and Bizerte is already connecting the most influential leaders of the global economy such as Baltimore natives The Carlyle Group co-Founder and co-Chairman David Rubenstein and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman along with Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) founder and CEO Kevin Plank and the business leaders of the future economic powerhouse of Africa. 

[Tunisian MP for Bizerte Ali Belakhoua filmed by Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass speaking with The Carlyle Group Co-Founder and Co-Chairman David Rubenstein at Greater Washington Urban League 2017 Philanthropy Award discussing Baltimore, Maryland and Bizerte, Tunisia Sister City.]

Bizerte, Tunisia and Baltimore, Maryland almost mirror themselves They are both important port cities located only a 45 minutes drive from their respective national capitals and are noted for excellence in culture/education and diversified industries.

Tunisia — like Baltimore — celebrates its diversity where Muslims, Christians and Jews truly pray, work and play together and is also the country in Africa and the Arab world with the longest and strongest tradition of women empowerment and protection of fundamental civil rights.

Because the country serves as a model for the Arab world and Africa, Tunisia has been target of ISIS terrorism and underhanded sabotage from certain developed and developing countries that either want the Tunisian democratic experiment to fail or fear Tunisia as an economic competitor.

Taking over from Belakhoua to develop the Port of Bizerte is Bizerte Mayor and Ennadha party member, Dr. Kamel Ben Amara.

[Bizerte Mayor (Ennahda) Dr. Kamel Ben Amara speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on Port of Bizerte, new airport and Baltimore Bizerte Sister City partnership at Andalucia Beach Resort in Bizerte, Tunisia on March 16, 2018]

Ben Amara is the first democratically elected Mayor of Bizerte in the post-Ben Ali Tunisia following municipal elections in Tunisia on May 6, 2018.

Ben Amara and Belkahoua have been been fighting for years to re-establish Bizerte as a leading port in the southern Mediterranean. Belakhoua — is a Tunisian-American engineer who started his career working for Towson, Maryland-based Black & Decker while Dr. Ben Amara worked 23-years as a senior manager for Qatar Petroleum in Doha.

Ben Amara and Belakhoua  initiated the start of Sister Cities partnership talks between Bizerte and Baltimore with the city’s than newly elected mayor, Catherine E. Pugh. 

The main focus of the partnership, says Belakhoua, will be a knowledge transfer related to the Port of Baltimore and business-to-business alliances between Baltimore-based small-to-medium size businesses with their counterparts in Tunisia. 

[International Finance Corporation CEO Phillipe Le Houérou and Bizerte’s Ali Belakhoua filmed by Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on proposed national airport in Bizerte and the Port of Bizerte at the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. April 21, 2017]

Belakhoua,  as a official participant to the IMF World Bank Spring meeting, spoke with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) CEO Phillippe Le Houérou and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) about regarding obtaining USD 400m in project financing and loan guarantees to re-modernize the strategic port of Bizerte. 

As a first step, Belakhoua had met with the staff of US Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to request that the US Army Corps of Engineers carry out a detailed environmental impact and economic feasibility study for the Port of Bizerte.

US Army Corps of Engineers for the District of Baltimore, US Army Col. John T. Litz, told Capitol Intelligence that the civin engineering arm of the Corps can easily carry out both a economic feasibity and environment impact study for the proposed deep sea port of Bizerte.

Senator Van Hollen — who insiders say is eyeing a run for President in 2020 — told Capitol Intelligence that he supports a US led P3 investment for Bizerte and that such a project can create significant jobs and opportunities for companies such as Peter Bowe‘s Baltimore-based Ellicott Dredges LLC. 

In fact, Ali Belakhoua has formally requested University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UCMES) Professor Dr. William C. Dennison carry out the study on the part of OPIC and IFC as the UCMES works closely with the US Army Corps of Engineers in the United States and elsewhere.

The estimated USD 400m deep sea port project was one of the projects that Tunisian Investment and Development Minister Zied Ladhari and Finance Minister Ridha Chalgoum raised during IMF World Bank Annual meetings on April 16-22, 2018 in Washington, DC.

In fact, one of the issues raised during the IMF World Bank Annual Meetings was pursuing a strategic partnership and alliance with the Port of Rotterdam to operate and manage the new deep sea port of Bizerte.

Economic development of Tunisia is a top priority for the new Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) under President Donald Trump. In fact, OPIC is now chaired directly by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the newly appointed OPIC President Ray Washburne has been elevated to the National Security Council under the Trump Administration.

Answering a question from Capitol Intelligence during the SelectUSA Investment Summit held at National Harbor, Maryland, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he will be leading a major US trade mission to Tunisia and Egypt this autumn.

[US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross filmed by Capitol Intelligence using CI Glass on upcoming trade missions to Ghana and missions to Tunisia and Egypt in autumn 2018 following question from CI Africa/CI MENA during news conference during Select USA Investment Summit at National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Maryland. June 21, 2018]

The missions to Tunisia and Egypt, which will follow a trade mission to Ghana, are all part of President Trump‘s Business First approach to foreign policy.

There are current co-financing talks between Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Washburne’s OPIC that will likely include OPIC investment’s in Beirut, Lebannon-based mobile phone carrier Africell and Bob Diamond‘s acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria via Ashish Thakkar‘s Atlas Mara.

OPIC’s Washburne is also seeking help from Intesa Sanpaolo Chairman Gian Maria Gros-Pietro regarding Secretary Ross upcoming mission to Tunisia and Egypt — as Intesa Sanpaolo, through its Bank of Alexandia subsidiary, is one of the largest foreign banks operating in the MENA region.

The US administration is becoming increasingly concerned that if it does not move on Bizerte, it will be beaten out by Chinese companies linked to the Chinese government.

Ali Belakhoua told Capitol Intelligence that he stumbled on a group of Chinese managers representing Chinese government companies who told him that they are looking at investing in the Port of Bizerte.

[Bechtel Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brendan Bechtel filmed by Capitol Intelligence/CI GCA using CI Glass answer question on President Donald Trump naming China as “strategic competitor” and takeover of Pireaus (Greece); Djibouti and Bizerte, Tunisia. CSIS Dec. 18, 2017]

During a major National Security policy speech on December 18, 2017, President Donald Trump said the United States said rival powers of China and Russia “seek to challenge American influence, values, and wealth. We will attempt to build a great partnership with those and other countries, but in a manner that always protects our national interest.”

In the White House released National Security Strategy went on say that “China seeks to displace the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, expand the reaches of its state-driven economic model, and reorder the region in its favor.”

While speaking at conference on Chinese infrastructure investment hosted by Washington’s most influential think tank, the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC, Bechtel Chairman and CEO Brendan P. Bechtel noted that America’s largest construction group has been pushed out of the global top ten construction groups by Chinese state-owned companies.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told Capitol Intelligence that he supports the Baltimore-Bizerte Sister City partnership with its key “knowledge transfer” exchange between the Port of Baltimore and the Port of Bizerte.

The Baltimore/Bizerte Sister City has also attracted the attention of Baltimore’s powerful and influential Congressman, Elijah Cummings (D-MD).  Cummings, who serves as the Ranking Member of the US House Committeee on Oversight and Government Reform, will be elevated as OGR Committee chairman if the Democrats win the mid-term elections in November.

[US Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Elijah Cummings speaks with Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on Baltimore, Maryland and Bizerte, Tunisia Sister City at US Senate Environment and Publlic Works field hearing at Ellicott City, Maryland. August 20, 2018]

With over USD 50 bn dollar in shovel ready infrastructure project and a gateway to most exciting early growth markets in the world, Tunisia is destined to boom as financial powerhouses such as The Carlyle Group, KKR, Citigroup and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings quickly realize the southern Mediterranean country is the best economic opportunity since just before Eastern and Central European nations such as Poland and Slovakia joined the European Union.

 The Port of Baltimore is seen as a model for private-public partnership as it partnership with Oaktree Capital Management unit Highstar Capital that allowed the State of Maryland to reap USD 1.8bn in economic benefits and create 5,700 jobs without spending a cent in tax payer money. Baltimore, with its deep sea (Panamex) port has become the most efficient port on the East Coast.

Baltimore is also one of the most important financial centers in the United States as it is the headquarters of US asset management giant Legg Mason and the United States headquarters of TransAmerica Corporation subsidiary of Dutch multinational financial services conglomerate Aegon NV (NYSE: AEG).

 In fact,  the late  Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) CEO Sergio Marchionne put Baltimore on the footing as Wall Street by holding one of the legs of the global Ferrari (NYSE: RACE) pre-IPO roadshows by Inner Harbor. .    

[NASDAQ, INC CEO and President Adena T. Friedman speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on Baltimore after interview with fellow Baltimore native, The Carlyle Group Co-Founder and Co-CEO David Rubenstein at The Economic Club of Washington DC. May 5, 2017]

Tunisia is currently the world’s bets market for direct foreign investment as the major multilateral private sector funding organization such as the United States government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the IFC, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EBRD, the African Development Bank (AfDB) have billions of dollars earmarked to support private sector investment in the country and major private-public infrastructure projects such as the expansion of the Port of Bizerte..

While Bizerte is destined to become a major port in SEMED (southern and eastern Mediterranean region), most probably the destination of choice for fast moving consumer goods, specialty manufacturing (oil services) and agriculture, Enfidha located 45 minutes south of Tunis is destined to become the air cargo hub for the African continent.

Bizerte Mayor Kamal Ben Amara and the Tunisian business elite are especially interested in convincing Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) CEO Kevin Plank to join the giant Benetton clothing group in operating a manufacturing plant in Tunisia.

[Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank filmed by Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass interviewed by The Carlyle Group co-Chairman and co-Founder David Rubenstein at the Economic Club of Washington, DC. November 26, 2018]

Memphis, Tennessee-based  FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) has already started looking at Enfidha airport as its regional logistic hub for the North Africa and Africa. In previous comments to Capitol Intelligence, Fedex chief executive Fred Smith said he has asked his management team to study the option.

Enfidha airport, which now only serves only a handful of flights a day, is a USD 200m plus green-field airport financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and operated by Turkey’s TAV Group.

US Marine Corps veteran Fred Smith is not the only major operator looking at Enfidiha.  According to UPS sources, Atlanta, Georgia-based UPS CEO David P. Abney is looking at transferring the company’s current cargo operations from Tunis-Carthage International to Enfidha.

[FedEx Corporation Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass ahead of testimony to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, DC. February 1, 2017]

“Dubai makes sense for cargo moving from Asia to Africa and Europe and Tunisia is perfect for Europe to Africa and US to Africa and North Africa,” one air freight executive said.

Tunisia is also seeking to hold direct talks with Ford Motor Company in the latest of years-long efforts to get money for a low-cost car manufacturing plant in the nation, former Tunisian Investment Minister and Ennahda party coalition partner Riadh Bettaieb said in an interview with Capitol Intelligence in Tunis.

Ford Motors Company Chairman William C. Ford, Jr told Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA following a speech at the Economic Club of Washington, DC that one critical issue regarding a potential investment in Tunisia will be the current state of free trade agreements between Tunisia and major markets such as the United States and the European Union.

Tunisia has rapidly become the Detroit of the Mediterranean with Tunisian automotive parts company supplying all the major manufacturers and the recent decision India’s TATA Group (owner Jaguar/Land Rover) to assemble their Xenon pick-up trucks and light commercial vehicles in partnership with Tunisia’s ICAR.

Examples of Tunisian automotive success stories in the automotive sector is the Tunis Stock Exchange listing of automotive parts supplier One-Tech and the USD 1.1bn automotive parts multinational Coficab owned by Hichem Elloumi.

In a previous interview with Capitol Intelligence, One-Tech owner and general manager Hedi Sellami said the group with annual turnover of USD 350m is experiencing double-digit sales and profit growth.

One-Tech had initially sought out a US private equity investor to join the International Finance Corporation as a company shareholder, but is now talking instead to European investment banks for a dual listing on a European exchange as London, Paris, Milan and Warsaw.

[Daimler AG Chairman of Management Board Dr. Dieter Zetsche speaks with Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on Tunisia/Africa growth strategy following speech at Economic Club of Washington, DC. November 5, 2015]

Both Elloumi’s Coficab and Sellami’s One-Tech are already important US auto part suppliers such as Troy, Michigan-based Delphi (NYSE:DLPH) and Southfield, Michigan-based Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA).

Tunisia is also a center for European OEM suppliers such as Nurenburg, Germany-based Leoni AG (ETR:LEO); Nanterre, France-based Faurecia (EPA:EO) and Canadian parts giant Magna International (NYSE:MGA).

Speaking with Capitol Intelligence at the Tunisia Investment Forum held in Tunis, Elloumi said Coficab continues to expand into new markets such as Mexico, the United States and Eastern Europe through mainly organic growth. He said the company is on track to double its current sales of about USD 1.1bn in 2020, an incredible feat considering that much of its expansion does not involve M&A acquisitions.  

Elloumi’s Coficab is North Africa’s biggest multinational and also the  largest employer in the Bizerte region.

[Coficab founder and Chief Executive Hichem Elloumi speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass during annual Tunisia Investment Forum, June, 2015]

Tunisia is also shaping up to become an industrial center for trucking, building and agriculture vehicle production.  India’s Hinduja Group Europe Chairman Prakash Hinduja said the Indian conglomerate is looking to locate factory of its  UK-based Askhok Leyland rapid transit group while Daimler AG‘s Russian trucking interest Kamaz has already started talks to open a factory to build trucks for the African and Middle Eastern market in Tunisia.

Another trucking company that may eye Tunisia both a major manufacturing hub Volvo‘s Hagerston, Maryland- based Mack Trucks as the US truck manufacturer is discovering surprising growth and demand in emerging markets, West Virginia’s Wheeling Trucks part-owner and COO Chad H. Remp told Capitol Intelligence/BBN.

The man who will be central to the entry of any truck manufacturer in Tunisia is SETCAR Chairman and CEO Ferid Abbas whose company already produces Volvo Renault public transit buses in the country.

[Nessma owner and Vivendi board member Tarak Ben Ammar speaks with Capitol Intelligence/MENA using Google Glass during Amcham Tunisia’s Investment & Entrepreneurship Conference in Tunis, Tunisia. March 5, 2015]

Abbas, who studied at Georgetown University with Tunisian-French media tycoon Tarak Ben Ammar, is also the Vice Chairman of the Tunisian Arab Bank (ATB) and a board member of the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund (TAEF).

Tunisian Minister Youssef Chahed has been working closely with Tunisian industrialist, Group Loukil Chief Executive Bassem Loukil, to market Tunisia as the true gateway for Africa for US, European and Asian companies.

During an interview at the FIPA Tunisian Investment Forum on November 9, 2017 in Tunis, Groupe Loukil Chief Executive Officer Bassem Loukil said that he is building out his business that involves healthcare, construction and energy storage business in countries such as Burkina Faso, Benin and now the newly re-opened market of Sudan.

[Groupe Loukil CEO Baseem Loukil speaks to Capitol Intelligence using CI Glass at Loukil headquarters Tunisia being the gateway to doing business in Africa and the Baltimore Bizerte Sister City program. Tunis, Tunisia. June 6, 2018]

Loukil said that he is ready and more than willing to work with US and European companies in partnership or an a turn-key basis in African high growth market. Bassem Loukil said he is also willing to entertain selling minority stakes in some of Loukil’s subsidiaries to qualified US, European or Asian private equity investors on a pre-IPO basis.

Loukil said foreign partners can exploit Tunisia’s access to funding and loan guarantees from the EBRD, IFC, MIGA, US OPIC and African Development Bank combined with the safety and political stability of an almost EU nation

Tunisia, like Baltimore, punches well over their perceived weight class and the real gems are country’s small-to-medium family owned companies such as Bizerte-based Almia Refrigeration Group that builds, designs and supplies leading luxury hospitality groups such as Toronto, Canada-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Saudi Arabia wealthiest businessman Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal; Bethesda; Ritz Carlton brand of the  Bethesda,Maryland-based Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR); and China’s HNA Group owned McLean, Virginia-based Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

[Almia Refigeration Founder and Owner Mohamed Larbi Alimia speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass and tour of factory in Bizerte, Tunisia. March 13, 2018]

In a recent interview in Bizerte, Alimia Founder and CEO Mohamed Larbi Almia said the company would now like to expand into United States and is talking to several US based refrigeration groups for the roll out.

Tunisia is experiencing a veritable renaissance in its agriculture sector thanks to the economic sanctions against Russia and the EU for Russian President Vladmir Putin‘s decision to annex Crimea and the Kremlin’s tacit support for eastern Ukraine separatists.

At the same time, Bizerte holds a special fascination for Russians, including Russian-American media mogul Len Blavtanik, after the Czarist fleet abandoned Crimea for Bizerte during the Bolshevik revolution of  1917.

In ancient time, the fertile North African country Carthage served as the bread basket of Rome and now the country serves as a breadbasket for the Russian Federation.

One of the beneficiaries to the US/EU agriculture export ban is the Misurata, Libya-based diary group Al-Naseem Food Industries founder and CEO  Mohamed Raied.  

[Al-Naseem for Food Industries Chairman and CEO Mohamed Raied speaks with Capitol Intelligence/MENA using CI Glass at Al Waddan Hotel in Tripoli, Libya on March 3, 2015]

Not only was Mr. Raied able to run his business during revolution to our Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffi’s but been able to keep producing and distributing western quality ice cream, milk and yogurts in the chaos of Libya today.

Mohamed Raied recently acquired the Tunisian operations of Vevey, Switzerland-based food giant Nestle SA (VTX: NESN) and is the controlling shareholder of Tunisia’s Generale Industrielle Alimentaire Slama (Slama-Gias) known for its Goldina margarine brands.  

Tunisia’s unique position between two major oil producing countries such as Libya and Algeria; a developed economy with a strong equities market and proximity to Milan; on top of Tunisia’s good neighbor foreign policy — has already become the market of choice for Fortune 100 companies such Boston-based General Electric (NYSE:GE), Chicago-based Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), and Morris Plains, New Jersey-based Honeywell International (NYSE:HON).

Arkansas native Josh Richardson said that the Sousse, Tunisia branch of Harvest Group is serving the US retail giant Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and its West Yorkshire, UK- based European subsidiary ASDA by exploiting the time difference between the US and Europe and multilingual and highly-qualified IT and software engineers.

Tunisia has become a high-tech center where local developers are already working on next generation IT applications such as IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) hyperledger technology for the financial services sector.

[DigitUS Tech founder and CEO Walid Driss speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on the utliization of digital currency and blockchain in Tunisia and elsewhere during the IMF World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, DC. April 17, 2018]

DigitUS Tech founder and CEO Walid Driss has already instituted a e-dinar digital currency payment system using blockchain hyperledger technology with the Tunisian postal service La Poste Tunisienne.

Driss is also working closely with Tunisian Central Bank Governor Marwan El Abbasi and his staff about launching a  national digital currency for the North African nation.

Driss said DigitUS goals is to bring state-sponsored digital payment solutions already operational at La Poste Tunisienne to other African nations as digital payments.

“Digital currencies using blockchain technology combats money laundering, increases economic empowerment for women, and helps combat the grey economy,” Driss said.

At the National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington DC, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan spoke openly regarding the success of IBM unique P-Tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools) program in Baltimore public schools.

[IBM CEO Ginni Rometty filmed by Capitol Intelligence using CI Glass speaking answering question from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan on P-Tech program in Baltimore at National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington, DC. February 2, 2018]

IBM P-Tech program gives high school students the ability to receive a no-cost associate University degree with real-world IT and computer engineering skills.

The IBM program P-tech program in US schools can easily be exported to Tunisia and throughout the African continent where education is considered  “a strategic investment” for individual families.

At the IMF World Bank Annual Meeting, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde hosted a panel predicting that Africa will replace Indian and China as the center for IT development for the next ten to 15 years. Tunisia, which can boast local headquarters of IBM, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPT) along with first mover Sungard (now Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS)) is already a center of R&D excellence for Europe, Africa and the GCC.

Tunisia as the gateway market for US tech companies should not be a surprise considering the United States signed the “Treaty of Peace and Friendship” with Tunisia in 1797, the first bilateral treaty signed by the United States with a foreign power.

Tunisia is now getting direct support from the mountain state of Wyoming as part of The State Partnership Program (SPP) that twins individual American state National Guard unit with a foreign country.

In an interview during the National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington DC, Wyoming Governor Matthew Mead said he would like to visit Tunisia in the near future to examine ways of forging closer cooperation between Wyoming and major non-NATO ally Tunisia.

Baltimore is also distinguishing itself as the cultural center of the United States with the Baltimore Museum of Art upcoming autumn exhibition of Los Angeles native Mark Bradford.

Tomorrow is Another Day is the exhibition curated and organized by Baltimore Museum of Art’s Katy Siegel and director Chris Bedford for the the US Pavilion at the world’s most prestigious art gathering, the Venice Biennale.

[Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford speaks to Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass at VIP opening of Art Basel Miami in Miami Beach on December 6, 2017]

The exhibition — which is scheduled for fall 2018 — is a perfect instrument for Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and major Baltimore-based private sector companies such as Legg Mason, Netherlands’ Aegon unit TransAmerica and Under Armour along with artist Mark Bradford to illustrate why the Baltimore Bizerte Sister City will lift all boats.

In fact, the Baltimore Bizerte initiative has already triggered talks to open the first foreign branch of the National Urban League in Bizerte.

The Urban League is the oldest community based civil rights organization in the United States and operates 34 chapters across the United States and in all major urban metro areas such as Baltimore, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles.
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National Urban League President Marc Morial told Capitol Intelligence that the bi-partisan Urban League is open to a “knowledge transfer” of its work regarding education, access to capital, and training with Tunisia’s young and vibrant democracy.

[National Urban League President and former Mayor of New Orleans Marc Morial meeting with Tunisian Member of Parliament and highest elected official of Bizerte filmed by Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass at Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. September 20, 2017]

Tunisia, on the other hand, can teach the United States on how race and religion can  co-exist in harmony.

On December 7 1864, Tunisia made an impassioned plea to President Abraham Lincoln to follow the North African nation in abolishing slavery.

“O, inhabitants of America. Humanity invites you to eradicate from your Constitution all that can give countenance to the principle of slavery. Pity the slave. God loves the merciful among his worshippers. Be then ye merciful to those upon earth, that He who is in heaven may be merciful to you.”

North Africa, especially Tunisia and Libya, were at the center of talks between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during their meeting at the Oval Office on July 30, 2018.

While the news media focused on Conte’s comments regarding immigration, President Trump announced that the US and Italy reached an accord to provide mutual support regarding stablization of Libya and Tunisia.

In a brief interview in Rome, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Italian government would like to use private sector investment as a tool to stop uncontrolled migrant flows from stateless Libya and shore up the Tunisian economy.

[President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte filmed by Capitol Intelligence using CI Glass during news conference following Oval Office meeting at the White House. July 30, 2018]

Tunisia revived economic prosperity will be seen when Bizerte’s Dr. Ben Amara and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh sign a historic Sister City agreement in front of the USS Constellation moored on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by year-end or early 2019.

The USS Constellation (namesake) was the American merchantman from which a contingent of eight US Marines trekked 600 miles across the Libyan desert during the Battle of Derna in 1805 and the origin of the Marine Corps Hymn “to the Shores of Tripoli” and the US Marine Corps’ Mameluke sword.

By PK Semler in Bizerte, Tunisia and Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC. For more information please call +1-202-549-3399 or email pks@capitolintelgroup.com

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