Smart Tunisia

What Smart Tunisia does

Smart Tunisia is a national government initiative operated under Tunisia's Ministry of Technologies of Communication and Digital Economy, launched in 2019 as the flagship investment-promotion vehicle of the "Tunisie Digitale 2020" national strategy. The program's stated objective is to create 50,000 digital jobs over five years by positioning Tunisia as a near-shoring destination for international technology investors and by accelerating the local startup ecosystem. It is not a commercial enterprise: it has 1–10 employees, generates no revenue (revenue is null in the disclosed financials), and delivers services free of charge to member companies and investors.

Functionally, Smart Tunisia acts as a single-window interface between the Tunisian government and digital investors. Its service stack includes fast-track administrative facilitation with local authorities, recruitment and selection support through recurring job fairs (most notably the Smart Tunisia Job Fair held at Technopark El Ghazela and Eniso Sousse), training and integration programs for new recruits, and coordination of fiscal incentives available under the Startup Act (corporate tax exemption, state-covered payroll contributions, import duty waivers, and free foreign exchange account rights). The program is distributed through a physical infrastructure of 10 Technoparks and 18 Cyberparks across Tunisia and is marketed via international events (Emerging Valley in Marseille), job fairs (ELIFE Tech Talent Days), and partnerships with French Tech Tunis, GIZ, AFD, EFE-Tunisia, and Startup-brics.

Smart Tunisia serves three primary customer segments: international technology investors evaluating a Mediterranean or African footprint, Tunisian startups seeking government labels, incubation, and funding access (the Startup Tunisia program granted 440 labels and 281 pre-labels via the Collège des Startups), and multinational technology companies outsourcing software development and IT services to Tunisia (cited members include Sofrecom, Sagemcom, FIS, ACTIA, Addixo, ADP Tunisie, and NUMERYX). Its Executive Director is Rim Jarou. By the end of 2018, the program reported creating 17,500 jobs with 40% of projects in progress or completed; Tunisia has since been ranked #1 in Africa for Cost Effectiveness and #3 for Human Capital and Lifestyle in fDi Intelligence's Tech Ecosystems of the Future 2021/2022.

Name

Smart Tunisia

Legal name

Smart Tunisia

Website

https://smarttunisia.tn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Smart Tunisia is a national government initiative under Tunisia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, promoting Tunisia as a digital investment hub. It provides administrative facilitation, talent matching, and Startup Act fiscal incentives to international investors, startups, and multinational tech firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Promotion Services

NAICS

Administration of Economic Programs (9261), Public Administration (92)

SIC

Services-Business Services, Nec (7389)

akta.pro primary industry

Government Digital Service & eGovernment (Service Delivery, IDs, Portals) (BPAIAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

Keywords

• Investment promotion services
• Digital economy development
• Tech talent recruitment
• ICT offshoring facilitation
• Startup ecosystem support

Headquarters

HQ city

Tunis

HQ country

Tunisia

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Investment Promotion Program: Smart Tunisia is a government-led national initiative under the 'Tunisie Digitale 2020' strategy. It does not generate commercial revenue but facilitates investment attraction, job creation, and digital ecosystem development as a public policy program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Smart Tunisia is a national government-led initiative that promotes Tunisia as a destination for digital investment by serving as a single-window interface between the Tunisian administration and technology investors. It provides member companies with administrative facilitation, recruitment and training assistance (via the Smart Tunisia Job Fair), and coordination of fiscal incentives such as those under the Startup Act. The program targets creating 50,000 digital jobs over five years and supporting both multinational investors and Tunisian startups across Tunisia's network of technoparks and cyberparks.

Product overview

Smart Tunisia is a national initiative and investment promotion program under the 'Tunisie Digitale 2020' strategy, designed to promote Tunisia as a digital investment hub in the Mediterranean, MENA region, and African continent. It is not a product or technology company itself, but rather a government-led initiative that provides information about Tunisia's digital ecosystem, talent pool, infrastructure, and investment framework to attract foreign and domestic digital investment. The initiative facilitates connections between investors, startups, and talent, and organizes programs like job fairs, but does not offer a unified product platform or discrete software modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smart Tunisia Membership Program A government-run membership service open to ICT companies established in Tunisia and new investors looking to expand geographically; provides a unified administrative interface with local government, recruitment and selection assistance through the Tunisia Job Fair, training and integration programs for new recruits, and access to Startup Act fiscal incentives.
• ELIFE Tech Talent Days (Job Fair Series) A recruitment-fair service aimed at matching fresh graduates and young talent from disadvantaged Tunisian regions with technology employers, delivered jointly with Education For Employment Tunisia.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17,500 jobs created by end of 2018 under Smart Tunisia program
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Chambre d'agriculture du Loiret (France)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 February 2022The Loiret Chamber of Agriculture in France signed a partnership with Tunisian startup Seabex to commercialize its intelligent irrigation management platform to French farmers starting March 2022, replacing the Net-Irrig tool used by 150 French farmers.
• FAST Project Partners (Expertise France, CDC Tunisia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2021FAST (Femmes et Accélération pour les Start-ups et TPE) is funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and implemented by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Tunisienne (CDC) with technical support from Expertise France. Project launched October 2021 with funding ceiling of 300,000 euros per project.
• Expertise FrancecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 October 2021Expertise France provides technical expertise for the FAST project, contributing to the design and implementation of incubation and acceleration programs for female entrepreneurs in Tunisia.
• Factory 319/619 (GIZ and Startup-brics)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership program between Smart Tunisia and Factory 319/619 incubators in cooperation with GIZ (German development agency) and Startup-brics for selecting and supporting Tunisian startups for international events such as Emerging Valley.
• Elife Programme / Fondation Tunisie pour le DéveloppementcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Smart Tunisia collaborates with the Elife programme which aims to build 10 technology centers across 10 disadvantaged regions of Tunisia (Siliana, Béja, Kef, Jendouba, Kairouan, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, Gafsa, Tozeur, Gabès, Médenine), each with capacity for 500 young people, targeting creation of 25,000 jobs.
• Education For Employment Tunisia (EFE-Tunisia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019EFE-Tunisia partners with Smart Tunisia on the ELIFE TechTalent Days job fair events, contributing to youth employment programs in disadvantaged regions.
• French Tech Tunis CommunitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019French Tech Tunis received official labeling and serves as a bridge for Tunisian startups to access the French and European tech ecosystem. Smart Tunisia works with French Tech Tunis to promote Tunisia as a digital hub.
• CoStart Incubator (Technopôle de Sfax)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019CoStart incubator at the Technopôle de Sfax hosts Smart Tunisia's information sessions and project calls, serving as a regional hub for startup support in southern Tunisia.
• Lab'ess Social Innovation AcceleratorsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019Lab'ess is a social innovation accelerator under PULSE that supports the development of social entrepreneurship in Tunisia. It has trained over 2,000 associations and facilitated 75 social enterprise projects since 2012.
• World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)supportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2019Former Tunisian ICT Minister Noomane Fehri was appointed High Commissioner to the WBAF to promote and facilitate digital transformation globally. The WBAF is a G20 partner focused on financial inclusion and startup financing.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Smart Africa Alliance: Pan-African digital transformation initiative headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, with a similar mandate to mobilize ICT investment across African Union member states. Highly comparable in operating model and policy frameworks, though Smart Africa operates at the continental scale while Smart Tunisia is national.
• Invest in Tunisia (FIPA): Tunisia's national Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, a government agency covering all sectors. Smart Tunisia is effectively a digital-sector-focused vertical extension of FIPA's mandate, sharing parent oversight under the Tunisian government but specializing where FIPA is broad.
• Invest India: India's national investment promotion and facilitation agency, providing a single-window interface for foreign investors including the technology sector. Comparable in operating model as a government-backed single-window investor facilitation platform, though at vastly different scale.

Regional players

• Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation (APII - Tunisia): Tunisian government agency for industrial promotion and SME support, an in-country peer for foreign investment promotion under the same government umbrella, focused on industrial rather than digital sectors.
• Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA - Egypt): Egypt's government agency for ICT industry development and offshoring promotion, operating Technology Parks and investor facilitation services. Direct regional competitor for offshoring FDI in North Africa with overlapping tech-park and talent attraction mandate.
• Invest in Morocco (AMDIE): Morocco's national investment promotion agency operating across multiple sectors including offshoring and ICT. Direct regional competitor for the same pool of European nearshoring investment, with overlapping value proposition but different country jurisdiction.

Direct peers

• Startup Tunisia: The Tunisian national startup labeling program operating under the Startup Act framework, governed by the Collège des Startups. Sister initiative to Smart Tunisia focused on the supply-side (startup creation and labeling) while Smart Tunisia focuses on the demand-side (investor and company attraction).
• French Tech Tunis: Labeled French Tech community in Tunisia, a partner of Smart Tunisia focused on connecting Tunisian startups to the French and European tech ecosystem. Overlapping mandate on startup promotion and international visibility, with French Tech operating as a network rather than a government program.

Others

• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit): German development agency partnered with Smart Tunisia on the Factory 319/619 incubator and Startup-brics initiatives. Provides technical assistance for digital development programs in emerging markets, making GIZ a capacity-building counterpart rather than direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Orange Digital Centers (Africa): Orange's network of digital training and incubation centers across Africa and the Middle East, including Tunisia. Operates free digital skills programs and startup support, partially overlapping with Smart Tunisia's talent development and ecosystem-building mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Smart_TUNISIA
• Facebookfacebook.com/tunisia.offshoring
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10160231

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smart Tunisia