Background
High unemployment rates in the country, a rapidly growing population and dissatisfaction, especially among young people, lead to major political, social and societal challenges.
Objective
A competitive and sustainable private sector, a deepened Tunisian financial sector and the mobilization of domestic and foreign investment contribute to improving the employment situation of the Tunisian population.
Activities
The project will target three areas of action. Firstly, it will contribute to improving the conditions for trade and investment by German and European companies, focusing specifically on the automotive- and the aviation industry. To this end, a Business Facility Desk will be set up providing interested companies with information, advice and a toolbox containing other necessary tools and approaches.
Furthermore, medium-sized companies in selected clusters will benefit from capacity development measures with the specific aim of sustainable and employment-generating growth. A key activity in this sense is the establishment of the Tunisian Automotive Management Academy (TAMA), which, since September 2019, provides training to the middle management of four automotive companies in the areas of soft skills, lean management, business and project management. The concept will be extended to other companies as of 2020. TAMA is implemented in cooperation with the Educational Association of the Bavarian Economy that was already tasked with developing the curricula and selecting teachers for the ongoing courses.
Thirdly, the project will contribute to improving the business ecosystem of selected sectoral clusters. To this end, studies are currently being prepared on the current status of these sectors. In the same vein, the project will also carry out various human capacity development measures such as study trips.
The project also contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the Special Initiative Training and Employment (SIAB). The Special Initiative aims to improve the conditions for sustainable economic growth in selected African partner countries and to promote local and international investment. The aim is to achieve qualitative and quantitative employment effects that improve the social and economic prospects of the population in the partner countries. In this sense; SIAB aligns itself with the German Government’s initiatives on Africa, specifically with those of the BMZ. The "Marshall Plan with Africa", the Reform Partnerships and the G20 Compact with Africa Initiative are worth mentioning in this context.
Impact
During its implementation period the project supports 170 Tunisian and European companies. This will create a total of 8,500 new jobs - 35 percent for women and 40 percent for young people.
Working conditions will improve for 15,000 employees from 170 companies: They will either receive more income, better social security, access to employee welfare programmes or benefit from greater job security.
In addition to the 170 companies with which the project works directly, the performance of another 230 or so companies in selected clusters is improving. For example, they can expand their customer base, offer more new products or services, increase their order volume, sales or profits. The companies also make more frequent use of external financing through bank loans or equity investments.