2011 Tunisian revolt, organized and led by the new millennial generation of young populists, transformed this country from autocratic, police state to one of the most pluralistic societies in Africa. Despite the fact that the social order in Tunis is time to time challenged by sporadic acts of violence, as were demonstrated in 2015 by attacks on foreign tourists at the Bardo National Museum and at the Sousse beach-front, peace is slowly returning to the Republic of Tunisia.
In 1990th the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali decided to implement the limited package of neoliberal, market-orientated reforms in an attempt to revive country's stagnant economy, which had been strangled by several decades of strict, centralized governments control. It resulted in more than 300% increase of the Tunisian stock market (notable during the dramatic oil prices' rise in the period of 2003 - 2007).
2008 world's spectacular financial slump put an abrupt end to this era of an unprecedented economic growth. In the next several years local stocks fell almost 50% and food inflation, skyrocketing unemployment, corruption plus quickly deteriorating living conditions brought hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised Tunisian citizens to the streets of Tunis.
Arab Spring began but the local stock market remained almost unaffected and continued to grow. It clearly demonstrated the level of the capital over-concentration in Tunisia and almost 100% divestment of the general public. Today, regardless the ongoing military conflicts in neighboring Libya, Tunisia has managed to remained economically stable. Moreover, TUNINDEX - the main Tunis Stock Exchange index - has risen almost four fold from its 2008 lows.
The current country's GDP growth rate remains sluggish, local consumers too poor and an unemployment rate too high to create an appropriate conditions to ensure the local startup ecosystem's growth. On top of that, the development of one of Tunisia's key economic sectors - tourism - remains suppressed by individual travelers' security concerns. Still, some local business opportunities may be found by daring tech founders in the growing mobile applications industry aimed at young urban users.
In 2015, Tunisian officials announced the project of eDinar - government backed block-chain currency. Additionally, in October 2017, the Central Bank of Tunisia launched four "reflection commissions", which main purpose is to prepare a roadmap on concrete measures and actions aimed at de-cashing the local economy using crypto. However, and notwithstanding other multiple initiatives put forward but various independent organizations and aimed at promoting crypto-currencies legalization in Tunisia, this sphere of digital economy remains largely unregulated. Still, trading crypto and organizing ICOs have remained technically legal in Tunisia.
Business Notes for Startups Founders:
political climate: indifferent;
economic climate: marginally not friendly;
regions to focus: locally, Mediterranean, France;
industries to focus: tourism, FinTech, media, e-commerce, gaming;
major limitations: sluggish GDP growth rate, low average personal income, high unemployment rate (exceeds 15%);
stimulus: cheap and educated labor, newly opening market niches, fast growing young population, closeness to EU markets, growing Internet penetration rate;
opportunities: to build an e-business aimed at the growing category of young users of the mobile Internet;
Cryptocurrencies and ICOs (outlook): legal (moderately positive).
The author: Svyatoslav (Svyat) Sedov
Angel investor and founder of The First International Incubator for Silicon Valley Companies (FirstInternational.In) in the Bay Area, CA, USA.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SvjatoslavSedof
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