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Good practice Imported

Startup Act & Smart Capital — Tunisia's National Startup-Labelling Law

Tunisia · Tunis · See the Tunisia profile · See the Tunis profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Africa's first national startup law lets Tunisian founders win a state 'Label' unlocking tax breaks and financing; labelled startups grew from 650 (2021) to 1,043 (2024), though 70% remain Tunis-based and only 5% are women-only founded.

650
Labelled startups (end of 2021)
4,500
Jobs created (end of 2021)
240 TND million
Cumulative turnover of labelled startups (end of 2021)
13
Labelled startups that entered international markets (end of 2021)
60
Startups protected by SAVE emergency loan scheme (COVID-era)
1,043
Labelled startups (2024)
over 2,200
Applications received (by 2024)
11 $ million
Annual funding raised by labelled startups (2020)
782 $ million
Annual funding raised by labelled startups (2023)
70 %
Labelled startups based in Tunis (2021)
5 %
Labelled startups founded exclusively by women (2021)
75 $ million
World Bank loan supporting the reform (2019)
Startup Act & Smart Capital — Tunisia's National Startup-Labelling Law

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Smart Capital (Government of Tunisia)
Period
2018–present
Keywords
Startup policy, tax incentives, entrepreneurship ecosystem, labelling scheme

Context

Tunisia's Startup Act, ratified in 2018 and implemented from 2019, was Africa's first dedicated national startup law. It created a state 'Label', administered by the public body Smart Capital, granting qualifying founders corporate-tax exemptions, streamlined company registration, foreign-exchange facilities and priority access to public financing. The World Bank backed the reform with a $75 million loan in 2019, and France's development agency Expertise France contributed €583,000 toward implementation.

Results

By the end of 2021, the programme had labelled 650 startups, created 4,500 jobs and reached TND 240 million in cumulative turnover; 13 labelled startups had entered international markets, and a COVID-era emergency loan scheme (SAVE) protected 60 startups. By 2024, Smart Capital reported 1,043 startups labelled from over 2,200 applications, with annual funding raised by labelled startups climbing from $11 million in 2020 to $782 million in 2023, a jump driven largely by two outsized deals: AI firm InstaDeep's exit-related $682 million and fintech Expensya's $100 million round.

Conclusions

The programme's own 2021 data shows real equity gaps: 70% of labelled startups were concentrated in Tunis and only 5% were founded exclusively by women, though women filled 45% of jobs created. The law's own architects concluded that Startup Act 1.0 was important and necessary but not sufficient to ensure sustainability, citing slow administrative processes and thin early-stage funding, which prompted a follow-on 'Startup Act 2.0' reform process from 2024.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — A national law bundling tax exemptions, foreign-exchange facilities and priority financing, backed by a $75 million World Bank loan and an emergency loan scheme, implies substantial fiscal cost, consistent with a high cost band.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Operating continuously since 2019 with a follow-on 'Startup Act 2.0' reform process from 2024, a long-running national policy rather than a short pilot.
Staffing & skills
Smart Capital (public body administering the Label)

Conditions for success

  • World Bank $75 million loan (2019) and Expertise France €583,000 contribution co-financed implementation.
  • Bundled incentive package (tax exemptions, streamlined registration, foreign-exchange facilities, priority financing access) rather than a single benefit.
  • COVID-era SAVE emergency loan scheme protected 60 labelled startups.

Common failure modes

  • 70% of labelled startups remain concentrated in Tunis and only 5% were founded exclusively by women (2021 data).
  • The law's own architects concluded Startup Act 1.0 was not sufficient to ensure sustainability, citing slow administrative processes and thin early-stage funding, prompting a Startup Act 2.0 reform process from 2024.

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National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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