Future Entrepreneurs

TAEF’s commitment to Tunisian entrepreneurs goes beyond our investment strategies. TAEF also works to inspire and prepare Tunisia’s next generations of entrepreneurs, small business owners and managers, the people who will build tomorrow’s businesses, creating economic and employment opportunity.
TAEF has designed and put in place innovative programs targeting students, the next generation of entrepreneurs:

Fellows Program

TAEF launched the Fellows Program in 2017 to link students to possible careers in SME businesses or as entrepreneurs. Open to students from all Tunisian universities, students are selected by TAEF based on their application and references.

Students match their skills and interests to the needs of TAEF investee companies
TAEF investee companies define intern projects in a wide variety of areas

Elements of the program:

Interns receive training in soft skills such as communications and design thinking from TAEF
TAEF provides stipend funding which is matched by the hiring company
At the portfolio companies, interns work on specific projects that meet the real needs of our investees in areas such as operations, marketing, software design and accounting
Trainees are coached and are closely supervised by TAEF and their supervisor in the company
TAEF supports the Fellows community of former interns with ongoing learning opportunities

Open Innovation

Open Innovation brings together real problems faced by TAEF investees and student teams working on solutions in a competition, or “hackathon.”

A pilot project was launched at ISET Kairouan in April 2019, a university located in an interior region with high unemployment where students have limited access to resources and opportunity. Eleven teams of 4-5 students were eager participants in the competition under the guidance and coaching of faculty.

Student teams successfully developed creative and pragmatic solutions to three distinct business problems: one in manufacturing and operations, one in software design and one in digital game development.

Based on the success of the Open Innovation pilot, elements of the approach will be integrated into an expanded Fellows Program.

Inspire Us

“Inspire Us” is a series of podcast interviews that promote entrepreneurship by sharing powerful stories of successful and inspiring individuals. The first video in 2019 spotlighted Abdelhamid Bouchnak a young and successful entrepreneur in cinema and theater.

The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

This website is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.