For months, the world has followed the unrest and protest in North Africa stemming from unemployment throughout Tunisia and Egypt. America.gov asked several Tunisian entrepreneurs to share their stories of business development amid the chaos in their region. 

Chema Gargouri

Chema Gargouri is the manager and major shareholder of the Centre for Applied Training, a private company focused on business development. Six years ago, Gargouri founded the Tunisian American Association for Management Studies, a community development and micro lending NGO located in a very poor area of Tunisia’s capital.

For individuals facing exclusion and unequal chances, entrepreneurship is not only an economic answer for unemployment, it builds self-esteem and human dignity. The failure of our society to make men and women feel like full citizens can only lead to frustration, humiliation and despair.  Mohamed Bouazizi’s act of desperation is a tragic example of what can happen when opportunities for young men and women seem non-existent.

Youth are entrepreneurial by nature, but efforts to encourage and support these tendencies were stymied in the past. Today, we must do more to enhance that entrepreneurial spirit and attitude. This is not a choice, but a duty. As a Tunisian woman and an entrepreneur, I recognize that the only difference between me and a micro entrepreneur in a poor community is opportunity. I am no more intelligent or competent than a Mohamed Bouazizi. I am just luckier.

The old regime did not support an independent civil society, including development NGOs.  But in 2006, our NGO, the Tunisian American Association for Management Studies (TAAMS), started working in Borj Louzir, a poor and sensitive area of Tunis. With the support of a handful of international organizations that believed in our mission, TAAMS succeeded in reaching more than 400 families, 1000 individuals and 350 micro entrepreneurs.   

TAAMS’s relationship with our entrepreneurs is built on micro lending coupled with a package of services to their families. Our micro-credit programs offer households the chance to secure an ongoing income, while our youth programs help the children of these entrepreneurs improve their results at school. Thus, the story that I can share is best summed up by the testimony of one 9-year-old boy: “Thank you, TAAMS, for saving me and my family.” I will never forget his face and what a gift he gave me personally.