The Challenge:
With a rapidly growing youth population across the African continent, job creation is critical to economic development–and Tunisia is no exception. As the country grapples with addressing high unemployment rates, especially among young people, the demand for jobs far outpaces the supply and ultimately limits long term economic growth. Small and medium businesses may hold the key to addressing this challenge, as they contribute the lion’s share of jobs – more than 70% – in developing and emerging countries. However, high-potential companies often face obstacles raising the capital they need to grow, in part because investors are unfamiliar with the Tunisian market.
Our Solution & Impact:
In 2020, USAID and its partners facilitated over 100 meetings at the Tunisia Prosper Africa Conference, connecting U.S. investors with high-potential companies in Tunisia and across the African continent. As a result, conference participants identified more than $100 million in deal opportunities. One of these companies was Fulfillment Bridge, an e-commerce logistics provider. Over the course of the next year, USAID provided Fulfillment Bridge with transaction advisory support, creating pitch decks and financial models to assist in investor outreach – then engaging potential investors and helping Fulfillment Bridge respond to due diligence requests from interested parties. These activities helped the company raise $750,000 in investment from a venture capital firm based in California and South Africa. This investment capital will fuel the company’s growth and create new jobs, both within Fulfillment Bridge and the many other small businesses it enables to grow and thrive.
“Being a start-up, we’re doing a lot of ‘one-man-show’ work. We’re split all over the place: scaling the team, doing business, prospecting, talking to investors, etc. We cannot have all those hats or expertise at once, and we cannot afford that $100,000 CFO who can get your outreach document to the point to impress investors. That’s where [USAID] came to fill a huge gap for us.”
Kais Khadraoui Fulfillment Bridge Founder and CEO
