Assessing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tunisia

Abstract

Following the Arab Spring and the Tunisian uprising, many saw Tunisia as a country leading change. A strong willingness to act came along with this shift. Mostly, all the stakeholders in the Tunisian society worked towards tackling the deeply rooted matters from which the Tunisian revolution stems, including the issue of the regional economic disparity. In this context, numerous people perceived entrepreneurship as a substantial solution for the latter matter, leading to a great vibrancy in the Tunisian entrepreneurial scene. It is therefore paramount to reassess, as a first step, the actual entrepreneurial ecosystem within the Tunisian context and apprehend how its key elements were shaped in order to optimize later on its economic impact. In our study, we will begin by highlighting the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development, especially on the regional level. This understanding stands as the rationale behind the goal of this paper. Then, we will provide a state-of-the-art analysis of the Tunisian entrepreneurial ecosystem through a framework that envisions taking into account all the stakeholders and the influencers of the Tunisian environment. We will finally, put forward the current shortcomings to be dealt with, in order to ultimately offer options we can apply to enhance and develop the Tunisian entrepreneurial scene.