unisia is no stranger to transformation. The revolution in 2010, marking the start of the Arab
Spring, caused an ideological quake that reverberated through the country from the ground up. It gave the younger generation a voice, and indeed a role to play, in their own economic future. Despite an educated youth population, the unemployment rate still hovers at around 40%, with one third being university graduates. Traditional jobs are few and far between. The only upside? It has fostered a favourable climate for startups and a rising entrepreneurship movement powered by youth.
A small, but influential startup community has sprung up in Tunisia, and the rest of the world is beginning to take notice.
Startup incubators like Founder Institute and Boost have already made an impact on fledgling companies, offering the capital and training needed for launch. Flat6Labs, a successful incubator that has supported a number of startups in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is soon to launch an office in Tunisia, providing entrepreneurs with seed funding, strategic mentorship, office space and development workshops. With the driving factors of the revolution still in place six years later, this reinvigorated youth population is looking to create change for themselves in the face of limited job opportunities, an unstable economy and ever-shifting political alliances.
This upward rise is partly due to foreign investment and much to do with the newly launched youth employment project branded “Mashrou3i” (meaning “My Project” in Arabic). A joint initiative between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the government of Italy and HP Foundation, it aims to address youth unemployment through entrepreneurship and enterprise development in Tunisia. Impact investment, where social or environmental impact is sought by investors along with a financial return, could follow, as evidenced in USAID’s global PACE initiative.
Slush Global Impact Accelerator, a global program supporting sustainable startups, launched its hub in Tunisia last year, giving local social entrepreneurs a chance to receive strategic mentorship and impact investment – where their social mission along with their financial performance is important to the investor.
Bilel Sboui always knew that he wanted to be self-employed. After graduating as a technician in automation and industrial computing in 2010, he was ready to strike out on his own after a series of internships, taking over his sister’s prickly pear seed oil business, Cactus Kairouanais.
“My hometown is marginalized by poverty and unemployment, on the other hand, we have natural resources such as the prickly pear, that must be identified and exploited to fight poverty and create jobs. I hope to gain further support from Mashrou3i to develop my company, along with a marketing strategy to access new markets.”
zaineb
Millennials in this developing democracy now have options. Ten years ago, the infrastructure and support for entrepreneurs simply didn’t exist. Now there are venture capitalists, incubators and targeted initiatives that are offering non-traditional routes to employment — with some even referring to the post-revolution country as a ’startup’ in its own right.
Zaineb Ben Belgacem is optimistic about her country’s future
At only 24 years old, she launched her first company, Carbotech Industry, in early 2017. Already employing ten people in Gafsa, it’s a specialised business based on the innovative design and manufacture of four types of coal. She credits the program for supporting her through the early stages of business development: “I joined UNIDO’s Mashrou3i program to receive business coaching and support and also took part in the HP LIFE training session on market research, finance, marketing and product marketing. My true objective is to enter the international market.”
Mashrou3i aims to create more than 6,000 jobs and have more than 5,000 aspiring entrepreneurs take part in business development workshops by 2021. It’s already helped establish 161 startup businesses, with 42% of them run by women. It’s helping young people like 25-year old Wahib Hafnaoui launch his own business, 3D Impressa. Inspired by watching a television show about new technologies and 3D printing, it specialises in the design and printing of models, prostheses, mechanical parts and prototypes in 3D.
He employs two computer scientists and a graphic designer. His business plan won a National Contest in Tunisia in January 2017, along with a financial prize that he parlayed into a bank loan to fund his project. After taking part in a four-day HP LIFE workshop organised by UNIDO, he says, “I left with confidence about the future of my business. Advertising and marketing are no longer abstract things for me but are concrete tools.”
tunisia
The universal experience of youth, said the English writer Quentin Crisp, involves navigating “how to rebel and conform at the same time”. The young people of Tunisia were forced to grapple with this complex, contradictory framework, arguably more intently than anyone living in a more economically stable country. Back in 2010, it was this rebellious spirit that catalysed change in the first place, and it’s what will empower this generation to overcome the education and employment gap. One thing is certain –the young people of Tunisia have taken back control
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