Virtual “Open Day” to learn more about the U.S. Exchange programs

Join us for a virtual “Open Day” to learn more about the U.S. Exchange programs available for Tunisians. We will be LIVE on Facebook (fb.com/usembassytunis) on Sunday, November 8, starting at 10:00 AM.  More information on our programs  → https://go.usa.gov/x7WTx  

The U.S. Embassy Cultural attachée spoke about the exchange programs provided by the embassy in Tunisia on Radio IFM.  (video)

MENA E-commerce Entrepreneur Knowledge Series

Looking to improve your e-commerce knowledge?

Join us for the “MENA E-commerce Entrepreneur Knowledge Series: E-commerce and COVID-19 Recovery for Small Businesses” from June 15 to July 2.

What is it?

Together with the World Bank and UPS, ITC is offering a series of webinars to support small business owners in the Middle East and North Africa to leverage e-commerce. We will offer:

  • 6 master webinars to train on key e-commerce topics such as COVID-19 recovery recommendations, international marketplaces, shipping solutions and improving online visibility.
  • 9 deep-dive clinic webinars to discuss topics ranging from online payment solutions to social media advertising and targeting local customers.

All master webinars will have simultaneous translation into English, French and Arabic. For the deep-dive clinic webinars, only the discussion and Q&A will be in any of the three languages. 

Who can participate?

The webinar series is open to every entrepreneur although the focus will be on e-commerce in the following countries from the MENA region: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia.

How can you register?
To join the webinars, you will need to:
 

1.      Register on ecomConnect.org, the e-commerce community engagement platform with a special focus on developing and least developed countries.

2.      Join the group “We Fi Project in the MENA region” & register for the preferred webinars.

More information?

Check the attached programme or click here.


AmCham COVID 19, Donations

Tunisia, May 5th , 2020, As part of its continued support of Tunisia and its people, and as a sign of the long standing friendship between the people of Tunisia and the people of the USA, AmCham Tunisia, through its Board Members and Members, has donated more than 15 Million TND to the 1818 National Fund to fight the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Many other donations in kind have been given to hospitals (such as medical equipment, video conferencing equipment for the Ministry of health and Drones) as well as food for poor families.

The following companies have contributed to this effort: Abdennadher Group, CISCO, EY Tunisia, Hexabyte, Honeywell, Integration Objects, TELNET, Jansen, Philp Morris, STB and Cellcom.

AmCham Assistance with exceptional measures to resume activities for the Private Sector

Dear AmCham Member,

In the context of COVID 19 pandemia official measures, The Tunisian administration is allowing companies to seek on case by case basis an authorization to resume activities. Please find attached link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfn-LDmoVcugDApW_KHccJErZxs41xDlW4z2LwuNDG95gzilA/viewform

AmCham is currently speaking with authorities to monitor the situation and will be available to support  our members with the procedure.

Please don’t hesitate to outreach to us if you need any assistance or have questions.

Best Regards,

AmCham Tunisia

/ In News / By DemoAmcham23 / Comments Off on AmCham Assistance with exceptional measures to resume activities for the Private Sector

AmCham Tunisia Commitment

As part of AmCham Tunisia commitment to safeguard our community while continuing to maintain an uninterrupted and high quality service to our members , we have implemented the following emergency measures:

1.     Our teams have been placed on mandatory working from home operations and are equipped to provide their full services from home, to receive and process all your emails and all your calls on their mobile phones.

2.    Face to face work related meetings have been replaced by videoconferencing and/or conference calls.

3.    We have restricted all out of office visits unless evidenced as a necessity (to the extent feasible).

4.   We continue to ensure to put in place best practice in business continuity measures while protecting our team members and our community as a priority.

In this delicate period, we invite you all to stay safe and take care of yourselves, your families and friends, and your communities, in the hope that the outcome of these difficult events will be a more interconnected and harmonious global society.

Please do not hesitate to share with us any concerns you have throughout this period and we will, as always, take all measures to ensure we accommodate to your concerns.

With best wishes,

Naceur Hidoussi
President, AmCham Tunisia

THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE STRONGLY CONDEMNS THIS TERRORIST ACTION

It is a shabby, miserable, pitiful and coward gesture that attacks the essential foundations of US-Tunisia cooperation.

This is not just an attack to American Embassy, but to all shared values of Freedom and Democracy . It is an attack to every Tunisian .

Together and united we do stand up , and remain strong against such cowardness.

We want to share all our grand sympathy and deepest support, to all embassy staff and tunisian police and guards .

NETWORKING ACROSS BORDERS-ENERGY

1          The Roundtable entitled “Investing for positive impact on Women in Africa”, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of Tunisia with The ‘Chambre Nationale des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises’ (CNFCE), was held on February 5th, 2020, in Tunis.

2          The session coincided with the Prosper Africa Opening Conference taking place on the 6th that gathered actors from the U.S. & African public and private sector to facilitate bi-lateral trade between the U.S. and the countries of Africa.

3          The objective of the round table was to bring together American & African Public and Private sector female leaders to discuss good practices and experiences in promoting gender parity through gender lens investing

 

4          Considering the global gender gap in access to the labor market, the MENA region is still quite behind for women at 17% female compared to males at 65% in 2018, regional specific awareness can shine a light on  how to target issues accordingly.

 

5          The 2015 McKinsey Global Institute Report reveals that if the gender gap were closed, the MENA region would have $2.7 trillion of additional GDP in 2025 with Sub Saharan Africa looking to gain $0.3 to $0.7 trillion.

6          The types of organizations that investors should consider to positively impact gender parity:

  1. Companies that support workplace gender equality
  2. Businesses led by women
  3. Companies that promote equality through their products or services

7          Equal opportunity rightly finds its role as Sustainable Development Goal number 5 of 17 put forth by the United Nations in a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development

SDG 5 – To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

8          IRIS Gender Investment Lens Metrics:

By the Global Impact Investing Network

1   Anti Discrimination Policies

2   Gender Wage Equity

3   Board Diversity

4   Number of Female Employees Promoted

5   Number of Female Founders

6   Number of Female Full-time Employees

7   Number of Full-time Female Managers

8   Gender Ratio of Promotions

9   Products Targeted to Women

9          Summary of Recommendations made during Round table discussions:

  • Conducive legal environment

Continually working towards legislative changes across the continent that support gender equality is one of the first steps that should be taken in the journey to achieving equality.

  • Skills and Competencies Development

Survival and growth depend on access and education to utilize a full range of entrepreneurial training necessary to thrive in their environment.

  • Access to financing

Knowledge of where to find investment, access to funders by their distance, societal approachability, linguistic communication barriers, and assistance through the process.

  • Supporting women working in male dominated sectors

Women currently working in or entering into a traditionally male dominated sector flourish when awareness and social support systems are in place.

  • Long term supportive lending

Utilizing a different, long term, mentorship like approach to investing encourages women to keep them on a path to grow into their fullest potential.

  • Foster Female Communities of Entrepreneurs

Communities build, fail, and rebuild together. When social norms have not yet changed in many areas in regard to women in business, finding like minded support is crucial.

  • Micro-financing models

The model sees continued success on the continent because of its holistic consideration of the borrowers. They often allow for the first stages of a business to become a reality.

  • Change the language

Instead of being seen as a women’s issue, gender parity should be viewed as a business issue because of the proven gains to attained with adapting equality.

The Prosper Africa Conference held in Tunisia further explores the new U.S. / Africa trade initiative

Tunisia, February 6th, 2020, The U.S. Embassy and  American Chamber of Commerce of Tunisia assisted in organizing the Prosper Africa opening conference, bringing together representatives of the initiative itself, African and American companies and trade organizations, partner banks, and investors along with some of the 15 U.S. government agencies involved in Prosper Africa to advance the dialogue between the participants, and introduce the components of the new 60 billion dollar framework that looks to facilitate bi-lateral trade between the U.S. and African private sectors.

After the opening remarks from the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, David Blome, Acting Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, Joseph Semsar, CEO of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu, and the Head of Government of Tunisia, H.E. Youssef Chahed, commenced the MOU signing ceremony for a new agreement between the U.S. Government and the United Bank for Africa.

Conference panels covered the landscape of Pan-Africa trade & investment opportunities, supporting U.S. Government tools to be implemented, and the role of USG agencies. Presentations included Governance and Policy, Investing in Innovation, Power Generation and Distribution, Agri-business, and highlighting Tunisia’s role as a gateway to Africa.

AmCham Elective General Assembly, January 16th, 2020

The American Chamber of Commerce in Tunisia’s Elective General Assembly, held on Thursday, January 16th 2020 at Laico Hotel, chaired by Mr. Naceur Hidoussi , AmCham Tunisia’s President.

Mr. Naceur Hidoussi chaired the session and welcomed all the members present and announced the opening of the session.

Ms. Rym Bedoui Ayari , Vice President of AmCham ,  presented the Activity Report of the previous mandate.

She then gave the floor to Mr. Adel Chaabane  AmCham’s treasurer , to present the Financial Report.

The representative of Price Waterhouse Cooper, Mr. Fares Bejaoui  presented the audit Report.

Mr. Aissa Miller took the floor and announced the beginning of the voting process of electing the new Board.

Following  the counting of the votes , under the provisions of the Chamber’s statutes and rules of  procedure, the Election oversight Committee announced the members  elected by the General Assembly as members to the Board as follows:

President: Mr. Naceur Hidoussi,  Hexabyte ( Bio)

Vice-Présidents : 

  • Mrs. Rym Bedoui Ayari : Bedoui & Co (Bio)
  • Mr.Lotfi Debbabi : Société Tunisienne de Banque (Bio)
  • Mr.Ahmed El Karam :Amen Bank
  • Mr.Noureddine Hajji : Ernest & Young (Bio)
  • Mr.Sami Achour : Integration Objects
  • Me.Mohamed Zaanouni : Zaanouni Law Firm (Bio)
  • Mr.Noomane Fehri :Digital Future

Treasurer:

  • Mr.Adel Mohsen Chaabane : Mazars (Bio)
  • Mr.Eymen Erraies : Consultant

General Secretary

  • Mrs. Fatma Rekik :COFAT
  • Mrs. Leila Baghdadi : Professeur (Bio)

Members of the Board

  • Mr.Haykel Belhassine :CITI
  • Mr.Marouene Braham :Philip Morris
  • Mr.Karim Gahbiche : Cerealis
  • Mr.Aziz Hadj Romdhane : Hertz
  • Mr.Jihed Jahdour : Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Bio)
  • Mr.Karim Mokaddem : International Business Machines (Bio) 
  • Mrs.Rouchou Nouha: Jansen & Jansen (Bio)
  • Mr.Adel Torjmen : Financial services company 
  • Mr.Anas Abdennadher : Groupe Abdennadher
  • Mrs.Houbeb Ajmi : Université Centrale (Bio)
  • Mr.Islem Ben Mbarek : Groupe Al Badr 
  • Mr.Sofiane Ben Tounes: OSCAR Infrastructures Services (Bio)
  • Mr.Adel Dahmani: Standard Sharing Software
  • Mrs.Lamia Fourati: Onetech Holding (Bio)
  • Mr.Rafik Mzah: Africinvest (Bio) 
  • Mrs.Maha Ben Hmidane : UPC Renewables North Africa (Bio)
  • Mr.Mehdi BEN ABDALLAH,  EXIA (Bio)

Prosper Africa: Bringing U.S. and African Businesses Together

The goal of this conference is to promote two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa. By bringing together the USG, investors, corporate executives and other private sector representatives from the United States and Africa, the venue will showcase the Prosper Africa initiative and inform participants about the tools and support that the USG can provide to accelerate deals and transactions between U.S. and African companies.

This includes how Prosper Africa’s “Deal Teams” work to support foreign trade and investment.  The event will also provide an opportunity to highlight Tunisia’s potential as a destination for investment and as a trade partner.  Finally, the event will serve as a business-to-business forum to match projects to investment capital and new technologies and to facilitate partnerships.

Prosper Africa Trends: “Eco” On Currency Liberalization – Accelerating African Trade Gateways

Accelerating African Trade – The “Eco” of Liberalization

Africa, including the former French West African colonies, continues on promoting barrier free Pan African trade.  Facilitating open trade and a common currency accelerates opportunities for the world’s fastest growing continent to prosper. Positive steps to increase African investment by releasing African reserves from the stewardship and use by French Treasury were announced this week by President Marcon. Simply put, as proposed, previously sequestered funds are now available for direct African investment.  The proposed decommissioning of the French-linked West African CFA franc was also announced with the endorsement of the “Eco” as the replacement currency.   One expected positive outcome of liberalization is continuation of promoting a common currency, opening pan -African trade and accelerating trade flows.

Africa Trade Alliances – The World’s Largest since the World Trade Organization

Parallel paths to promote African autonomy continue with regional trade alliances. Countering global trends towards nationalization, North Africa including Tunisia, increasingly unite as trade partners. The West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) minimize trade barriers and harmonize customs practices.  English and French speaking Africa links formalized in March 2019 with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – the world’s largest since the 1994 World Trade Organization. As perspective COMESA, similarly with its 21-nation membership serves 560 million people links Tunisia, Egypt and Madagascar improving the focus on Technology and Biotech developments.

Gateway into Global Markets – Tunisia

Boosting inter-regional and global trade frameworks is constructive of the continent. Unleashing Africa’s long-stymied economic potential strengthen supply chains and spread shared expertise is both aspirational and realistic.  Increased Pan-African trade flows increasingly funneled into Europe and the United States from gateway countries like North Africa led by Tunisia, are irreversible.  The Tunisian and other American Chamber of Commerce actions, guide export expansion, ratify opportunities for Pan African business and trade-linked profitably – gradually erasing the shadow of a colonial past.