Souk At-tanmia Independent evaluation of the 2012-2013 pilot edition in Tunisia Kevin Hempel Mohamed Ali Midani April, 2015 Project data sheet Country Tunisia Project Title Souk At-tanmia Thematic area Youth Employment, Entrepreneurship, Private sector development Lead agency African Development Bank Implementing partners Department for International Development (DFID), United States Embassy in Tunis, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Labor Organization (ILO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), International Office for Migration (IOM), British Council, Banque de Financement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (BFPME), Banque Tunisienne de Solidarité (BTS), Microsoft, Mediterranean School of Business (MSB), Confédération des Entreprises Citoyennes de Tunisie (CONECT), Talan, Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (CJD), Total, Tunisiana/Ooredoo, Touensa Project timeline (1st Start date: July, 2012 edition) End date: December, 2013 Contact person for the Ms. Thouraya Triki, Chief Country Economist, project North Africa regional department, African Development Bank [email protected] Project website www.soukattanmia.org Evaluation period Mid-term: September – December, 2013 Final: August – December, 2014 The analysis and recommendations of this evaluation are those of the evaluators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Development Bank, its management and board of directors or those of the Souk At-tanmia’s partners. Citation of the evaluation report: Hempel, K. and M. Midani (2015). Souk At-tanmia. Independent evaluation of the 2012-2013 pilot edition in Tunisia. Corresponding author: Kevin Hempel, Independent Consultant, [email protected] Souk At-tanmia Final Evaluation | 2 Executive Summary In the aftermath of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, the While the project could have benefited from drawing African Development Bank (AfDB) initiated Souk At- on more existing evidence and lessons learned of tanmia (a “market for development” in Arabic), a pilot other business plan competitions during the design program to support entrepreneurship in Tunisia and stage, the integrated approach of providing access to tackle unemployment. The first edition (pilot phase) finance as well as non-financial services was well in was launched in July 2012 and ended in December line with international best practices and beneficiary 2013. A second edition was officially launched in April needs. Souk At-tanmia was one of the first programs 2014. in Tunisia to offer an integrated approach to foster entrepreneurship. Specifically, the program covered The objectives of this independent evaluation carried the entire value-chain of business creation, including out during the fall of 2014, are to: pre- and post-creation support. The majority of 1. Assess the overall performance of the first beneficiaries stated that this combination of services edition, in particular with regard to achieved was Souk At-tanmia’s key value proposition. outcomes for beneficiaries; Moreover, the project rightly identified access to 2. Assess the institutional set-up of Souk At- finance and particularly self-financing as a key tanmia; and challenge for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in 3. Based on the findings related to the design, Tunisia, which justified the use of grants to bridge the implementation, and results of Souk At- lack of entrepreneurs’ personal contributions. This has tanmia, draw lessons learned and make also helped them access bank loans. recommendations for adjustments of future editions of the initiative or similar « The novelty and strength of Souk was that it interventions. combined all these different activities under one Relevance single program » Partner organization Souk At-tanmia was a timely initiative that responded directly to the immediate needs of the Tunisian people. Opinion polls in recent years consistently highlighted unemployment and the weak Effectiveness economy as the most important problems facing the Overall, the Souk At-tanmia initiative had a mixed country, making employment promotion programs, record in meeting its targets. In terms of beneficiaries, such as Souk At-tanmia, a highly relevant policy the project benefited fewer direct beneficiaries than response. In addition, the project was also fully in line anticipated (61 grantees compared to 100 planned) with the priorities of the Tunisian government and the and the share of projects securing additional financing AfDB. Moreover, rather than just providing traditional from the Tunisian banking sector remained behind training or employment services as many public expectations (only 13%). On the other hand, the employment programs do, Souk At-tanmia set out to project was able to offer coaching services as planned stimulate the private sector and vitalize the demand- (100% of grantees benefitting from a coach), reaching side of the labor market by making it easier for a solid satisfaction rate of 69% (target was 80%). In Tunisians to start and grow their businesses. Given the terms of project visibility, targets were widely prevalent barriers to firm entry and growth in the exceeded with over 80,000 web-site visits (target of country, supporting entrepreneurship was an 18,000) and over 150 media appearances (target of appropriate strategy. 40). Souk At-tanmia Final Evaluation | 3 1 Breakdown of beneficiary projects businesses. Note that, in relative terms, Souk At- tanmia created approximately 4 jobs per grantee - Dropped out before disbursement more than the anticipated 3.5 jobs. Did not start Sustainability: 67% of grantees continue to be 71 10 operating Business operational (Target: 69%). At the time of this 61 failed or on 11 hold evaluation, 41 projects were in business, 50 9 representing 67% of the 61 grant recipients. If the 41 50 projects that actually were initiated are considered, then 80% are still in business. Survival rates were slightly higher among growth projects (88%) than among start-ups (79%). This is in line 71 61 50 41 with what one would expect given the higher risk projects grant projects projects selected recipients started still of start-up projects. operational Reduced disparities: 39 enterprise initiatives supported in marginalized regions (Target: 70). In percentage terms, this translates into 64% of Souk At-tanmia projects being from the most In terms of the project’s key outcomes, the following disadvantaged regions, which is close to the target results were achieved: of 70%. As intended through the selection criteria, Replicability: 2 similar initiatives launched projects from disadvantaged regions were given (Target: 4). There have been 2 concrete examples preference during the selection process (51% of of replication. The first is the launch of a second submissions came from those regions compared edition of Souk At-tanmia in April 2014 which built to the 64% of final beneficiaries). on the experience of the pilot edition. The second While not all outcome targets were met, it should be is the development of a project by the AfDB in recognized that several targets were fairly ambitious Ivory Coast strongly inspired by Souk At-tanmia in and that results were generally encouraging given the Tunisia. In addition to the Ivory Coast, several pilot character and small size of the initiative. other AfDB field offices have expressed interest in Therefore, the overall achievement of the project learning more about the Souk project, though it is development objective is still judged moderately too early to tell whether any concrete activities satisfactory. informed by Souk At-tanmia will actually materialize in these countries. Efficiency Economic development: 276 full and part time jobs created (Target: 347). The total number of full While the model of a multi-stakeholder partnership and part time jobs created, both direct and was an adequate vehicle for the delivery of the indirect, is estimated at 276, or 80% of the target. integrated entrepreneurship support approach, it If all types of short-term labor and temporary came at the cost of a relatively burdensome positions were included, the total estimate would governance and implementation structure. In amount to approximately 532 employment particular, even though the AfDB’s credibility and opportunities. On the one hand, these numbers convening power can explain why it hosted the suggest that the original job creation estimates Secretariat during the pilot phase, this arrangement is (1,000) were overly optimistic. On the other hand, unlikely to constitute a long-term solution due to the missing the official target of 347 can be largely inadequacy of AfDB internal procedures for a project attributed to the lower number of beneficiary like Souk At-tanmia (e.g. due to restrictions on projects and the early development stage of their contract duration for consultants, burdensome 1 By the time of the evaluation, the average beneficiary had been operating for about 1 year. Souk At-tanmia Final Evaluation | 4 procurement rules, etc.). Moreover, given the 20- Business characteristics and income: Supported member size of the steering committee and the businesses are 90% formal. About 50% of consensual decision-making approach, decision- operational businesses appear to be profitable 9 making was unavoidably time-intensive, especially months after the end of the coaching, though because the committee not only dealt with strategic average monthly profits still tend to