Disadvantaged regions
are set to benefit from the ICT boom

Good salaries in the ICT sector

Information and communication technology (ICT) companies have become important employers in Tunisia. Studies predict that the sector will contribute up to 6.8 percent to economic output in 2025. The digital transformation of industries such as the food industry, financial services or public administration has the potential to increase efficiency and contribute to economic growth. But although many companies pay salaries that are significantly above the average, they have difficulties finding qualified personnel. And in many cases the ICT trainings offered by Tunisian educational institutions does not meet the requirements of employers. Like other countries, Tunisia must compete for good IT specialists and is therefore trying to inspire and qualify young people for a career in this field.

Especially regions outside the metropolitan area of Tunis have so far hardly been able to benefit from the growth of the ICT sector and suffer from particularly high youth unemployment. In the south, the northwest and the centre of the country, there are only few jobs in emerging industries, and young job seekers have a hard time finding employment outside of sectors such as agriculture or tourism. Tunisia's growing ICT sector offers them employment alternatives – provided they have the relevant qualifications

Three new training and technology centres are being built

Our partner, the 'Fondation Tunisie pour le Développement', founded in 2016, is committed to the education of young Tunisians and to the economic promotion of disadvantaged regions of the country. One of its goals is to make Tunisia an even more attractive location for ICT companies. The foundation has already established four so-called ELIFE training centres in Tunisia. With support from Invest for Jobs, three more centres are now being built in the regions of Sidi Bouzid, Tozeur and Kairouan. Each of the four-storey training centres will have five classrooms, two open spaces, a digital workshop ("Fablab") and a recording studio for e-learning courses.

Each year, 120 graduates from technical universities who are not yet employed will acquire additional training in ICT at each centre. The training content will be developed and offered jointly with other educational institutions. In addition, there will be courses tailored to the specific needs of local companies. They will provide technical qualifications in promising sectors such as photovoltaics and renewable energies. 600 people are expected to go through these shorter programmes each year. There will also be an incubator programme with 20 to 30 start-ups participating each year. Start-ups will be selected through a competitive process. Successful applicants will then benefit from coaching and mentoring programmes and will be accompanied on the way to founding a company

A network of partner companies

Graduates of the ELIFE centres can already make contact with potential employers during their training. Our partner foundation 'Fondation Tunisie pour le Développement' cooperates closely with the 'Association Tunisienne pour la Communication et la Technologie' (TACT) - an association of around 30 large ICT companies that will offer job fairs, lectures, and hackathons at the new centres. The extensive business network, which includes the TACT members, is expected to create 1,260 new jobs. Thirty-six people will be hired to run the three new ELIFE centres. It is projected that at least half of the new jobs will go to women. In total, more than 2,500 people are expected to undergo training at the ELIFE centres within three years.

The foundation plans to invest 6.89 million euros. The Facility Investing for Employment grants a subsidy of 4.9 million euros (71 per cent). It will be used to finance the planning and construction of the training centres as well as their technical equipment. The running costs are covered by the foundation, which is financed by donations and above all by the contributions of its founder. The Tunisian Agency for Employment and Vocational Training (ANETI) also pays a bonus to the centres for graduates who have been successfully placed in employment.

The Facility Investing for Employment (IFE) of KfW Development Bank is part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). With its support, the Facility wants to remove barriers that prevent the creation of new and better jobs in the private sector in the African partner countries.