In the Sousse countryside, tractors and trucks block the roads at the entrance to the oil mills which dot this agricultural region, 120 kilometers south of Tunis. “The olive season is starting soon, we’re getting ready”explains Abderrazak Ayed, mayor of the small village of Knaies. In April, the town saw the birth of the region’s first community business. This company, called Zita, today brings together 65 partners “mostly living in Knaies”, according to Abderrazak Ayed, himself a shareholder. “This status provides advantages, such as tax exemptions and state funding”explains CEO Oussema Aata.
Community enterprises were created in March 2022 by Presidential Decree No. 15. Since that date, approximately 80 of these companies have reportedly been founded in several regions. “This question will remain a priority for Kaïs Saïed”assures Mahmoud Ben Mabrouk, secretary general of the Massar party, who explains that “new measures will be taken after the election”. His party supported the candidacy of Kaïs Saïed during the campaign, during which the latter had also called for “facilitate procedures”.
Kaïs Saïed was re-elected last Sunday with 90.7% of the votes, in a vote marked by a strong abstention and the disqualification or arrest of several candidates. “Many unemployed young people will be able to launch their projects”assures Mahmoud Ben Mabrouk, confidently.
At the “heart of the economic project”
According to its CEO, the Zita company “looking to acquire harvesting equipment” while waiting to be allocated state land, areas nationalized in the 1960s. The concession of this land to community companies is added to a budget of 60 million dinars cumulative in 2023 and 2024 (17.8 million euros ) in 2023 and 2024, making this initiative “the heart of the economic project and the most important promises” by Kaïs Saïed, according to a report from Idrak, an institute for studies on development and governance, published in March 2024. The opposition essayist Hatem Nafti sees this as “the typical example of the economic agent subject to the will of power”.
According to data published by this institute, more than 85% of community businesses carry out agricultural activity, especially in inland regions such as Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa. In addition to setting a minimum threshold of 50 equal shareholders, Decree No. 15 specifies that these companies are intended to produce a “social benefit”. In Knaies, the Zita company has, for example, committed to creating a composting unit to « recycler (ses) waste and that of others”, indicates Oussema Aata.
Many obstacles
“Creating a community business is a challenge, a battle, and we will see it through to the end”exclaims Fakhreddine Trabelsi, CEO of the agricultural company Manouba El Baya, in the suburbs of Tunis. Despite the launch of the project in December 2022, the community enterprise has still not started its activity. “We are all young graduates, competent and determined to succeed,” deplores Rachid Mejri, financial director and friend of Fakhreddine. Coming from farming families, the two unemployed thirty-somethings, trained agricultural engineers, are demanding “adapted laws and land to be able to work”.
From Gafsa to Tunis via Kairouan or Sidi Bouzid, almost all community businesses say they have failed to launch their activity. “These companies still face a lot of problems with bureaucracy”recognizes Mahmoud Ben Mabrouk for his part.
In fact, the only company contacted which assured that it had started its activity was the company Socilog, near Nabeul. Inaugurated in October 2022 in the presence of Kaïs Saïed, this former agricultural cooperative had changed status to become the first community enterprise in the country. A shareholder of Socilog recognizes that, “unlike others, (they were) already familiar with this management method ».
A representative of the Union of Unemployed Graduates comes back to reality, beyond the communication effects: “At this stage, community businesses have not absorbed a significant share of the country’s 800,000 unemployed, whether they are qualified or not. »
