IHEC

What IHEC does

IHEC Carthage (Institut des Hautes Études Commerciales de Carthage) is Tunisia's first business school, founded in 1942 as the École Supérieure de Commerce de Carthage and renamed under its current title in 1966. It is a public higher education institution supervised by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and is part of the Université de Carthage. The institution delivers a full academic stack — undergraduate Licences (Management Sciences, Business Intelligence), twelve Masters split between Professional Masters (Entrepreneurship, Financial Analysis, Accounting, Big Data Analytics & e-commerce, Hospitality & Tourism, Modern Marketing & Strategic Intelligence) and Research Masters (Marketing, Management/Strategy/Consulting, Economic & Financial Engineering, Finance), and five Doctoral programs (Accounting, Management, Marketing, Finance, Economics). Teaching is organized across six academic departments — Management, Finance, Quantitative Methods, Accounting, Economics, and Law — supported by three research laboratories (LEFA, ECSTRA, PRESTIGE) and a UNESCO Chair in Prospective, Anticipation and Strategic Decision.

The business model is that of a regulated public university: revenue is generated through government funding, regulated tuition, and registration fees set by the Ministry, supplemented by revenue from the 4C Career & Competence Certification Center and the Microsoft Training Center, which serve working professionals. Go-to-market is academic-recruitment driven — students enter via national university admissions and the institution's pre-registration platform — and the distribution footprint is a single 40,000 m² campus in Carthage-Présidence with 40 classrooms, 3 amphitheaters, and 10 computer labs. International exposure is delivered through double-degree and exchange conventions with partners in France (NEOMA, EM Normandie, IAE Caen, ISTEC Paris, Brest Business School), Switzerland (HEG Genève), Canada (Université Laval), Germany (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), and Monaco (Académie de la Mer de Monaco via ECSTRA), and through a network of 30+ corporate partners (Orange, EY, Henkel, Carrefour, UIB, Attijari Bank, Bank Zitouna, Vermeg, OOREDOO) that supply internships and recruitment pipelines under the DSOE employability mandate.

Operationally, the institution holds ISO 21001:2018 certification for Educational Organizations Management Systems and has hosted Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Muhammad Yunus as speakers. It is governed by a Director (currently Prof. Jouhaina Chaouachi Siala), a Director of Studies, a Director of Internships and External Relations, and a General Secretary. IHEC transitioned to the LMD (Licence-Master-Doctorat) system between 2006 and 2013 to align with European higher-education standards.

Name

IHEC

Legal name

Institut des Hautes Études Commerciales de Carthage

Website

https://ihec.rnu.tn

Company type

Private

Founded year

1942

Operating status

Operating

Short description

IHEC Carthage is Tunisia's first and most established public business school, founded 1942, operating under the Ministry of Higher Education to deliver Licence, Master, and Doctoral business programs to Tunisian and international students from its 40,000 m² campus in Carthage-Présidence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Carthage-Présidence

HQ country

Tunisia

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Registration Fees: As a public institution under the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, IHEC generates revenue primarily through student tuition fees, registration fees, and government funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IHEC Carthage is a Tunisian public business school that delivers degree-granting undergraduate, graduate (Master's / MBA), and doctoral (DBA / PhD) programs in management, finance, marketing, accounting, and business intelligence across six academic departments staffed by 80+ faculty. It also offers continuing-education and professional training programs for working professionals, supported by an ISO 21001:2018 certified quality-management system.

Product overview

IHEC Carthage is a business school offering a comprehensive portfolio of academic programs organized in three tiers: undergraduate Licences (Bachelor's degrees) in Management Sciences and Business Intelligence/Management Informatics; twelve Masters programs comprising seven Professional Masters (MP) in areas including Finance, Marketing, Accounting, Big Data Analytics, Entrepreneurship, and Hospitality/Tourism, plus five Research Masters (MR) for doctoral preparation; and five Doctoral programs in Accounting, Management, Marketing, Finance, and Economics. The institution also operates specialized training and certification centers including the 4C (Career and Competence Certification) center and a Microsoft training center. The academic structure is organized across six departments: Gestion (Management), Finance, Méthodes Quantitatives (Quantitative Methods), Comptabilité (Accounting), Economie (Economics), and Droit (Law).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• High employment rate after Master's completion
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core, moderate and minor.

• NEOMA Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEOMA Business School is an academic partner of IHEC Carthage with cooperation agreements for student exchanges and potentially double degree programs.
• EM Normandie Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEM Normandie and IHEC Carthage have a double diplomation convention at the Masters level, enabling students to earn degrees from both institutions.
• IAE Caen (Université de Caen Normandie)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIAE Caen and IHEC Carthage have signed a double diplomation convention between the Master's in Financial Analysis and the Master's in Asset Management, Risk Control and Compliance.
• HEG Genève (Haute École de Gestion)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHEC Carthage and HEG Genève are academic partners with a student exchange convention.
• Université LavalmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Université Laval in Quebec, Canada for potential exchanges and collaborations.
• ISTEC ParismoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ISTEC Business School Paris for academic cooperation.
• Brest Business SchoolmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrest Business School and IHEC Carthage have signed a partnership convention for academic collaboration.
• UNESCO Chair for Prospective, Anticipation and Strategic DecisioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHEC Carthage hosts a UNESCO Chair focused on Prospective, Anticipation and Strategic Decision-making, demonstrating research excellence.
• Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-SenftenbergmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with German technical university for student exchanges and research collaboration.
• CEDIMES InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHEC Carthage is partner with CEDIMES (Centre d'Information, de Documentation, d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Mutations Economiques et Sociales), hosting annual federating colloquiums.
• Orange TunisiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner providing internship and employment opportunities for students.
• Ernst & Young (EY)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional services partner providing industry exposure and potential recruitment.
• Henkel TunisiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner in consumer goods sector for internships and recruitment.
• Carrefour TunisiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRetail partner providing internship opportunities.
• UIB (Union Internationale de Banque)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBanking partner providing financial sector internships and employment.
• Attijari Bank TunisiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBanking sector partner for student internships and career opportunities.
• Bank ZitounaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIslamic banking partner for financial sector collaborations.
• VermegminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoftware/IT partner providing technology sector opportunities.
• OOREDOO TunisiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTelecommunications partner for student opportunities.
• Académie de la Mer de MonacomoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe ECSTRA research laboratory of IHEC has established a partnership with the Académie de la Mer de Monaco for collaborative research activities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mediterranean School of Business (MSB): South Mediterranean–focused business school offering undergraduate and graduate management programs with international accreditation. Targets a similar student segment in North Africa with an English-language and international-partnership emphasis comparable to IHEC.
• TBS (Tunisia Business School): Tunisia's leading private business school offering undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in management. Directly competes with IHEC Carthage for the same Tunisian baccalaureate pool seeking business degrees, particularly for English-taught and internationally-oriented programs.
• ESSEC Tunis (ESSEC & MANNHEIM Executive MBA): ESSEC's Tunis campus delivers graduate business education in Tunisia, directly competing for Master's-level students, executive education clients, and corporate partnerships across North Africa in a similar institutional niche to IHEC.
• ISG (Institut Supérieur de Gestion de Tunis): Public Tunisian business school under the University of Tunis offering Licence, Master, and doctoral programs in management. A closest domestic public-sector peer with overlapping program portfolio, governance structure, and target student segments.
• IHEC Sousse: Sister IHEC institution under the Tunisian public university system, offering similar Licence/Master/Doctorate business programs in the Sousse region. Comparable public-sector business school peer for benchmarking program design, faculty, and graduate outcomes.

Broad incumbents

• NEOMA Business School: French Grande École with which IHEC has a core double-degree partnership. Comparable in academic positioning and program structure (Bachelor/Master/Grande École), and serves as both a partner and indirect competitor attracting the same Tunisian student pool for outbound mobility.
• Université Laval – Faculté des sciences de l'administration: Canadian academic partner of IHEC with comparable undergraduate and graduate business programs (management, finance, accounting). Functionally similar business-school curriculum structure used to benchmark IHEC's international-facing programs.
• EM Normandie Business School: French business school party to a double-degree convention with IHEC at the Master's level. Overlaps with IHEC in target programs (e.g., finance, management) and competes indirectly for North African students seeking French-accredited business degrees.

Emerging players

• African Leadership University (ALU School of Business): Pan-African institution offering undergraduate and graduate business programs targeted at emerging African leaders. Comparable in mission (developing African business talent), positioning vs. traditional French-track schools, and appeal to a similar elite student segment across the continent.

Regional players

• Al Akhawayn University (School of Business Administration): Moroccan university with an English-language business school offering undergraduate and MBA programs in North Africa. Comparable regional peer for English-track business education, international accreditation, and corporate partnerships in the Maghreb.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 IHEC