Original Story Published by: Tafline Laylin for Ozy.com
Why You Should Care: Nearly 15 percent of Tunisia’s population is unemployed — that’s a lot of untapped talent waiting to be unleashed.
Tunisia rippled with human energy after the Jasmine Revolution of 2011, with people finally having hope for their future. But by 2014, one-third of the country’s youth were still “not in employment, education or training” (NEET), according to the World Bank. Today, efforts to cultivate a healthy startup ecosystem — with cascading national benefits — are finally shifting the dial. So much so that according to the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI):
Tunisia is the best country in Africa for entrepreneurs, beating out economic giants Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa.
Produced by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute and funded by the European Union, World Bank and others, the GEI measures the “quality and dynamics of entrepreneurship ecosystems at a national and regional level.” Does the population have the skills to start a new business? Can they accept risk? What about access to capital? These are a few of 14 pillars the report scores. Of 137 countries in 2018, Tunisia ranked 40th overall, sixth in the Middle East and North Africa region and first in Africa.
To read the full article, visit Ozy.com.
Related
