Smart Capital, a management company responsible for the implementation of the national Startup Tunisia initiative, including the country’s Startup Act, has appointed a new general manager. He is Alaya Bettaieb, former Tunisian minister for international cooperation and planning.

Previously, the manager was a consultant in investment and technology related activities. With a solid expertise in the financial world, the former minister had to occupy several positions of responsibility in this field. He was co-founder and former president of the Tunisian Venture Capital Association, co-founder of the Euro-Mediterranean Capital Forum, member of the BOD of Licensing Executives Society Arab Countries.

A pioneer in introducing intellectual property and technology transfer issues to the venture capital community in the MENA region, Alaya Bettaieb, 63, holds a master’s degree in physical sciences (Faculty of Sciences of Tunis), a Masters in Petroleum Engineering (University of Southern California) and a Masters in Management Economics (University of Hiroshima in Japan).

Startup Tunisia is a national initiative which aims to make Tunisia a country of Startups at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, the MENA region and Africa. It intends to rely on 3 essential pillars to succeed in this mission, namely to create a favorable legal framework and attractive investment and a favorable ecosystem.

The Fund with a target size of 200 million euros ($241m) with an expected first closing of 100 million euros aims to invest in 13 investment funds dedicated to Startups at each stage of their development.

Read also: What Difference Have Startup Acts Made In African Countries Where They Exist?

Lessons from Tunisia’s seeming success with its Startup Act

Tunisia’s Startup Act has largely succeeded because of a collaboration between the public and private sectors. For instance, Smart Capital, the company in charge of administering the Tunisian Startup Act is privately managed, although with public shareholding. The company was approved by the Tunisian Financial Markets Council, and works with the country’s Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy and the Ministry of Finance. Smart Capital’s mission is simple and straight-forward: design and implement the Startup Tunisia initiative (including among others, the Startup Act and the Fund of Funds ANAVA), in order to make Tunisia a country of startups at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, MENA region and Africa.

Read also:4 Tunisian Startups Form The First Cohort Of The Central Bank Of Tunisia’s Regulatory “Sandbox”

Thus, handing over the administration of the Act to a private entity has saved the Act from the bugs of bureaucracy and inefficiencies that eat up most government commissions and agencies in Africa. The company has been promoting Tunisian startups and planning several launches of funds in support of startups, recently.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Smart Capital Startup Act