Publications

The purpose of this work is to understand the emergence and evolution process of nascent and innovative entrepreneurship, the constraints and challenges faced by Tunisian startups, the success factors and, finally, how to support the emergence, sustainability and growth of nascent entrepreneurs. This is done via a questionnaire and interviews with 30 nascent startups housed in incubators or accelerators. The survey results confirm the ability and the capacity of startups to scale up, to generate growth and to create good jobs, especially for young adults and graduates. According to the survey results, Tunisian startups are facing a number of obstacles which hamper their development, especially access to financial resources in the early stages, but also skills shortage, cumbersome administration, lack of raw materials etc.

Empirical results also highlight the importance of training, incubation and all support actions for startups. This support is especially useful at an early stage, where the survival rate of startups is generally low.

Amidst the global health crisis, this new study updates the study of Ayadi and Gadi (2013) and extends the knowledge on credit guarantee schemes (CGS) in the South Mediterranean, whilst providing a preliminary assessment on the role of CGS – during and post COVID-19, based on a survey and various stakeholder engagement sessions conducted in 2020.

The study is led and co-authored by Prof. Rym Ayadi, President of EMEA and Director of EMNES and Mais Shaban, Research Fellow at EMEA and Fellow of EMNES.

The authors would like to thank all members the Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN) for responding to the survey and accepting to provide their inputs about the role of the CGS during COVID-19. Acknowledgement to EMEA copy-editor Rob Atree for proof-reading and IT and AI officer Nektar Baziotis for design and formatting. Valuable comments by EMGN members are acknowledged. The study is under EMGN research and development pillar led by EMEA.

Sustainable development as a holistic framework is a top priority in the global agenda.

Abundant literature tackles Sustainable Development. But in a context characterised by global threats, such as the COVID-19 sanitation crisis, climate change and gaps in worldwide de-velopment, Sustainable Development Goals appear more relevant than ever and achieving them is more urgent than ever. To accelerate the path towards this objective, this policy pa-per advocates the need to implement a strategy, based on two pillars.

The paper defends the idea that it is of utmost importance to emphasise the need for a “nexus approach” rooted in a “geography sensitive” and “multi-scalar” vision of Sustainable Development, for targeted implementation at regional and local levels, particularly within the Euro-Mediterranean and African region. Such an approach would also be a fundamental accelerator for regional integration, which remains really weak in this part of the World. Many indicators show that the present context offers a unique opportunity to adopt such an approach and, thereby, accelerate the pace towards reaching global Sustainable Development Goals.

The paper also highlights how, considering its geostrategic position and its long-term commitment to Sustainable Development as an holistic framework, Morocco plays a preeminent role in the implementation of such an approach.