Expertise France Celebrates 10 Years in Tunisia
A Memorable Ceremony Under the Theme "10 Years of Cooperation, a Common Future"
On December 15, 2025, Expertise France celebrated its 10th anniversary in Tunisia with a ceremony at Beit El Hikma. The event brought together a wide range of institutional partners, economic actors, and representatives of civil society. The goal was to take stock of past achievements and outline future prospects, in close alignment with Tunisian priorities such as energy transition, ecological and digital transition, job creation, entrepreneurial dynamism, and regional integration.
Keynote Interventions and Strategic Visions
The French Ambassador to Tunisia, Anne Guéguen, highlighted the pivotal role of Expertise France in Franco-Tunisian technical cooperation. Human capital is a central priority, from basic education to higher education, including professional training and improved access to healthcare. She also emphasized the importance of human security, through civil protection and the fight against illicit trafficking, such as drugs and human trafficking.
Guéguen stressed Tunisia's strategic position in the Mediterranean, ideal for building a sovereign economic model. Securing supply chains and valuing the country's "extraordinary human skills" are imperative in an increasingly unstable world.
Jéremie Pellet, Director General of Expertise France, presented a quantitative and inspiring overview. "We celebrate these 10 years of commitment with immense pride," he said. As the first country where the agency was established worldwide, Tunisia has 140 employees working on about 20 active projects in areas such as the circular economy, public health, economic knowledge, education, and entrepreneurship.
Notable Results
In 2024, 2,311 companies received support for growth, digitalization, and internationalization; 1,694 public officials were trained; and 1,773 people, primarily young people and women, were guided towards employment or entrepreneurship. A highlight of the day was the launch of the WATANI program, worth 5 million euros, which aims to support 500 entrepreneurs by mobilizing diaspora savings, decentralizing the incubator The Dot, and integrating artificial intelligence.
Pellet envisions a resilient Mediterranean around four pillars: cutting-edge technologies like AI, youth employment, climate and energy transition, and balanced human mobility. He recalled the historic Franco-Tunisian and Franco-European partnership, with projects propelling numerous start-ups. Future plans include a focus on AI (boosted by the recent regional summit in Tunis), employment, vocational training, and exports to Africa and Europe, targeting the needs of companies from Gafsa to Tunis for inclusive economic integration.
Panels: Experiences and Concrete Innovations
The morning was structured around three dynamic panels, followed by a conclusive fireside chat.
- The first panel, "10 Years of Expertise France: What Impact in Tunisia?" featured Nejia Gharbi, Director General of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), who retraced over seven years of fruitful collaboration, from ENLIEN (2019-2022) for young entrepreneurship to FAST – Femmes Accélération Startup Tunisie – in 2023, a regional accelerator for women entrepreneurs with strong mentorship. The highlight was the signing of the WATANI convention, in partnership with AFD-CDC-Expertise France, which channels diaspora savings into investments, promotes returns to the country, and decentralizes innovation via The Dot.
- The second panel, "Inclusion at the Heart of Development: Women, Young People, and Territories in Action," featured Douja Gharbi (CEO RedStart), Omar Triki (Tunisia Development Foundation), and Houbeb Ajmi (Vice-President IACE), who shared best practices in innovative entrepreneurship for young people and women, local ecological transition, and territorial impact.
- The third panel, "Anticipating the Future: Developing Expertise for Tomorrow's Challenges," featured Kmaira Ben Jannet Mzali (CITET), Helmi Tlili (Office of Tunisians Abroad), and Adel Dekhil (National Center for Training and Development), who explored environmental expertise, diaspora return strategies, multilingualism, and continuous training in the face of labor market mutations.
Overall Assessment and Promising Horizons
Over the decade 2015-2025, Expertise France has transformed: from ministerial operators to an international agency with 2,200 employees (1,400 in the field), with quadrupled activity (from 115 to 450 million euros) in 147 countries. In Tunisia and Libya, 26 projects were implemented in 2025, including 4 regional ones. An anniversary book, the first of its kind, compiles testimonials from partners and beneficiaries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, celebrating successes in health, equality, and local ecosystems.
Future prospects include a white paper co-edited with IRIS (Pascal Boniface and Didier Billion), resulting from a workshop at Station F (Paris, February 2025), to be published in March 2025 with ten proposals for inclusive, solidarity-based technical cooperation focused on AI, youth, climate, and mobility.
This event strengthens the historic Tunisian-French bond, founded on trust and tangible results. It paves the way for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development in the Mediterranean, transforming geographical, human, and historical proximity into assets in the face of global challenges.
