Mansour Moalla (; born 1 March 1930) is a Tunisian economist, businessman and politician who held several cabinet posts in the period from the 1960s to the early 1980s.

Early life and education

Moalla was born in

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

on 1 March 1930. He hails from a family of farmers. After completing his primary and secondary education in his hometown Moalla studied law in France and graduated in 1953. He also obtained a degree in literature in 1953. He received a Ph.D. in political sciences from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. He attended the National School of Administration in France between 1954 and 1956. Moalla was one of the founders of the General Union of Tunisian Students based in France and assumed its presidency in its second conference held in 1954. During this period he was part of the team who were carrying out the negotiations for internal autonomy led by Tahar Ben Ammar, a leading Tunisian landowner. However, he left the team when his application to the French National School of Administration was accepted.

Career and activities

Moalla started his career as an inspector at the General Inspectorate of Finances and worked there until September 1957. He was made a technical adviser at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

in 1958 and involved in the establishment of the

Central Bank of Tunisia The Central Bank of Tunisia (, , BCT) is the central bank of Tunisia. The bank is in Tunis and its current governor is Marouane Abassi, who replaced Chedly Ayari on 16 February 2018. History Tunisia gained independence in 1956. The Central Ban ...

of which he was the first director-general. In the period between 1962 and 1963 he was the president and director-general of the National Society of Investment and the director of Central Administration. Next year he was named as the director of the National School of Administration. He was appointed undersecretary of state for industry and commerce in 1967 and became the director of Central Administration of the Presidency and head of the State Secretariat of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones in 1969. He was appointed secretary of state and the minister of communications in 1969 which he held until 1970. He was the minister of planning from June 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the Destour Socialist Party and served in its central committee and political bureau between 1980 and 1984. He also served as the minister of planning and finance in the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mohammed Mzali Mohammed Mzali (, 23 December 1925 – 23 June 2010) was a Tunisian politician who served as prime minister between 1980 and 1986. Early life Mzali was born in Monastir, Tunisia on 23 December 1925. His family has ancestry from the Ait Mzal tri ...

from 1980 to 1983. Moalla was removed by Mzali from the post due to his plans to reform the tax system of Tunisia. Because this reform would not be beneficial for the Tunisian business leaders. Mansour successor as minister of planning was Ismaïl Khelil. In 1976 Moalla established the Arab International Bank of Tunisia and acted as its director for one year. His partner in the foundation of the bank was

Habib Bourguiba Jr. Habib Bourguiba Jr. (; 9 April 1927 – 28 December 2009) was a Tunisians, Tunisian diplomat and politician. Biography Jean-Claude Habib Bourguiba was the son of Habib Bourguiba, who became the first List of Presidents of Tunisia, President of ...

, son of the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the Head of Government of Tunisia, prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1 ...

. Following his removal from cabinet in 1983 Moalla served as the honorary president of the Arab International Bank of Tunisia. Moalla had to resign from all his official positions in order to save the bank in June 1993. He was also founder of the Arab Institute of Business Leaders (Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Entreprises; IACE), a think tank established in 1985. He was the president of the IACE until June 1993. The reason for his resignation was a libellous public campaign due to the allegations of the existence of a Masonic lodge which aimed to “control the structures of the national economy." This campaign was likely to occur following Moalla's criticisms against the Tunisian government for being compliant to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. In October 2013 Moalla was one of the potential candidates to head the

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

to be formed following the unrest during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

events. He did not accept the offer on 31 October.

Personal life and work

Moalla is married and has four children:

Nejla Nejla ( ; ) is an Arabic given name for females, which means 'large-eyed'. People named Nejla include: * Nejla Abu-Izzedin, Lebanese historian * Nejla Ateş, Turkish belly dancer * Nejla Demir, Turkish engineer and politician * Nejla Işık, Tu ...

, Selim, Alya and Samy. Moalla is the author of some books including ''De l'indépendance à la révolution. Système politique et développement économique en Tunisie'' that was published in 2011. His another book is ''Sortie de crise et union nationale: pourquoi et comment'' () which was published in 2019.

Honours

Moalla is the recipient of the following: Commander of the Order of the Republic, Officer of the Order of Independence and Grand Cordon of the Order of Tunisian Republic.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moalla, Mansour 20th-century Tunisian businesspeople 21st-century Tunisian businesspeople 1930 births Living people Finance ministers of Tunisia Industry ministers of Tunisia Planning ministers of Tunisia Governors of the Central Bank of Tunisia University of Paris alumni 21st-century Tunisian writers People from Sfax Tunisian economists Socialist Destourian Party politicians École nationale d'administration alumni Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Tunisia)