Business Reform & Competitiveness

Tunisia

Alison Wright

USAID Business Reform and Competitiveness Project (USAID/BRCP)

2014–2017

This USAID-financed project rapidly expanded employment in Tunisia by partnering with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase productivity, catalyze sales and exports, and generate jobs.

Through a comprehensive approach that targeted both the firm and value-chain levels, we facilitated the generation of more than 23,500 full-time jobs at an average cost of just $878 per job.

 

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Alison Wright

23,500+ full-time jobs created/matched

3,800 loans facilitated

265 career/enterprise days organized

350+ businesses received technical assistance and/or on-the-job training

Alison Wright

In close collaboration with government and private organizations, we worked across multiple institutional levels to:

  • Promote rapid job growth across networks of partner SMEs.
  • Strengthen the capacity of training and educational institutions to respond to labor-market demand trends.
  • Increase SME access-to-finance through two-way collaboration with businesses and progressive financial institutions.
  • Develop institutional support platforms with public- and private-sector counterparts to improve logistics and export capabilities.
  • Support policy reform in key areas impacting employability and SME development.

The project demonstrated that there is high potential for scalable, cost-effective employment generation at the enterprise level.

Key Results:

  • 23,521 full-time jobs generated at an average cost of $878 per job.
  • 350+ enterprises received technical assistance and/or on-the-job training.
  • Equity and credit capital facilitated in 18 deals that amounted to $42 million .
  • 11 enterprises reached with over $23 million in foreign direct investment (FDI).
  • 3,800 loans facilitated, $9 million deal flow.
  • 73 career center networks created and assisted; 55 career center counselors trained.
  • 11 job fairs and 265 career/enterprise days organized.

Alison Wright

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