carthage institute

promote sustainable economic
growth and job creation

The Carthage Institute is a nonprofit economic advisory organization that implements economic development programs in the Southern Mediterranean region.

The institute provides institutional strengthening to business associations / chambers of commerce, supports entrepreneurship development programs (in particular mentoring and access to markets and finance) and fosters a culture of economic advocacy.

Mission
Statement

Objectives

Value
proposition

Objectives

  • Assemble a strong network of professionals, scholars, researchers, practitioners, diaspora leaders in the US and the Southern Mediterranean region towards providing support and expertise to strengthen the region’s economic development;
     
  • Foster a culture of economic advocacy through research, networking, and knowledge and opportunity exchange;
     
  • Build the capacity of institutional, private, and nonprofit stakeholders in relevant areas such as entrepreneurship, education, economic development, policy reform etc.;

Mission statement

To promote sustainable economic growth and job creation in Tunisia and the southern Mediterranean region by ensuring better access to information, enhanced institutional capacity, improved governance, increased Public Private Partnerships and sustained reforms.

Value proposition

The Carthage Institute leverages the capacity of Southern Mediterranean diasporas in playing an active role in creating economic opportunities in their country of origin.

Diasporas bring unique understanding, relationships and long term care for its country of origin and when associated with internationally recognized scholars/international development professionals can foster private sector development, bring best practices that can be catered to the country of origin and that enabled a lasting sustainable economic impact

 

For example, the Tunisian diaspora in the United States has acquired a strong understanding and expertise and have the potential to contribute to economic, institutional and intellectual growth in Tunisia. The Carthage institute is the platform that brings together this diaspora towards a common goal, ensuring knowledge and opportunities exchange, capacity building, outreach and advocacy. .

 

The Carthage Institute initiative stresses on the importance of engaging diaspora in an effective and sustainable manner and is meant to create a continuous economic improvement process that will last well beyond any donors funded economic development program timeline.

Projects

At the Carthage Institute, we believe that a robust private sector is the cornerstone of resilient economies and stable countries.

CI strengthens businesses and public and private institutions. We work in the areas of investment, trade, information communication technologies, financial services, handicrafts and tourism, public sector and business enabling environment.
 

Our project aim at providing:

  • Better access to information, in particular US best practices in areas related to economic and business development, education, entrepreneurship, corporate governance … through research, advocacy, and outreach
  • Increased and sustained engagement of southern Mediterranean diaspora in the US at the national and local level in their countries of origin

 

Our leaders and staff have been implementing economic development initiatives in areas related to economic growth, workforce development, education, and policy reforms.

supporting entrepreneurship
development programs

Our partners

Our region

The Southern Mediterranean Region has the potential to become one of the world’s most competitive regions. The region can capitalize on its strengths and make the most of its diversity to stimulate innovation, build a strong pool of skilled labor and foster entrepreneurship. While the political situation remains fragile in the region, a deep spirit of co-operation and integration exists within the private sector from Rabat to Beirut and can pave the way to set up ambitious governance frameworks to pursue economic development objectives jointly. Diaspora has a fundamental role to play including piloting cooperation models between various Southern Mediterranean diaspora private sector leaders residing in the same country. Yet major challenges at the local level lie ahead in particular in conflict zones and post Arab Spring transition countries, where economic transition still needs to be accompanied by more innovative strategic planning, new forms of governance and dynamic civic entrepreneurship. Policies will need to be made more adaptable and capacities will need to be strengthened if prosperity and living standards are to increase on the Southern Mediterranean

Fortunately, the Southern Mediterranean Region includes some of the world’s most innovative entrepreneurs and policy thinkers. From Tunisia to Egypt to Jordan, the Region possesses a breadth of talent, experience in facilitating policy co-ordination, adjusting policy to local conditions and involving business and civil society in shaping policy measures. There is a great deal that these countries can learn from each other in setting up partnerships and other forms of governance. The learning process has already started, with Tunisia becoming a unique laboratory for political transition and currently undertaking major economic reforms. The Carthage Institute has been analyzing the new developments in the Southern Mediterranean States to provide suggestions on how to speed up this progress.

Carthage Institute team

leadership

MOHAMED A. MALOUCHE

CO-FOUNDER / PRESIDENT

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Mohamed Malouche is the President of the Carthage Institute. He is also the founder and board Chairman of the Tunisian American Young Professionals (TAYP), the largest Tunisian American diaspora professional association. Under his leadership, TAYP has launched several programs in education, exports, entrepreneurship and exchanges designed to foster further economic ties between the US and Tunisia and foster the development of an entrepreneurial culture in Tunisia through mentorship, soft skills development, technical and financial support. 

Mohamed has been a management consultant for the past 20 years as a Principal at American Management Systems Inc. until 2006 and subsequently with Deloitte Consulting LLP where he led the donors clients’ digital modernization unit, a practice dedicated to the organizational, process and technological transformation of international financial institutions and development agencies. For the past 5 years, Mohamed has been managing an institutional capacity-building program in Tunisia aimed at enabling regional chambers of commerce to become the catalyst of local economic activities. In 2016, he was appointed as the special economic envoy for the Tunisia 2020 investment conference in the United States. He oversaw the design and rollout of all activities related to attracting U.S. FDI to Tunisia before and during the conference. 

Mohamed holds a MBA from Telecom Paris in France, and a Master in Telecommunications from Michigan State University. He serves on the board of the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund. He is a frequent speaker in numerous US-Tunisia conferences including at the State Department, Clinton Global Initiative University, the Doha forum, several universities and think tanks and in media such as CNN, NPR or Al Jazeera English.

MARK T. MCCORD

CO-FOUNDER / TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

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Mark McCord is the Carthage Institute’s Technical Director. He is a senior expert in economic development, innovation, organizational leadership, enterprise, governance, and investment promotion. He has more than 30 years’ experience in local economic development, having served as President and CEO of four different metropolitan Chambers of Commerce and economic development authorities during his career in the United States. In addition, he has been a management consultant at BearingPoint and Deloitte, and has led local economic development efforts in a variety of countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Jordan, Bhutan, and Tunisia. In addition, he has extensive experience in conjunction with donor agencies, executives, government officials and non-profits to promote competitiveness and business associations in international markets. His experience in economic development has made him one of the foremost specialists in the enhancement of competitiveness by promoting innovation, analytics, and market access.

Mark has direct experience in sector analysis, export promotion and business associations capacity building, having launched major sector-based initiatives in Romania, Afghanistan, Jordan, Cyprus, and Bosnia. In addition, he was one of the leaders in the development of the Competitiveness Office of Abu Dhabi’s strategy to promote investment and exports in the United Arab Emirates. As leader of technical implementation for the SABEQ program in Jordan, Mark oversaw a comprehensive export enhancement and coaching program that targeted specific sectors. Mark is integrally familiar with Tunisian organizations and companies, having played a major role in the launch and success of the Chamber and Business Association Capacity Assistance Program (CBACAP) since 2012

Mark has an undergraduate degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and a Master in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. He is currently a PhD candidate at Gonzaga. His “Prosperity Pathway” methodology has been used extensively in a number of countries to enhance national competitiveness.

HEDI LARBI

SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVISOR

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Hedi Larbi is a senior technical advisor at the Carthage Institute. He most recently served as advisor to the MENA Vice President at the World Bank, a visiting professor at Harvard Kennedy School, and from January 2014 to February 2015 served as both the Minister of Economic Infrastructure and Sustainable Development and the Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Tunisia.

Hedi has over 35 years of professional experience in economic and social development as both a policy advisor and policy maker, with more than two decades of high level work in the World Bank Group, the private sector (in Europe and Middle East and North Africa), and the Tunisian transition government. Hedi also has substantial expertise in the areas of public policy, economic and sectoral development strategies, private sector development, infrastructure services, human capital development, public finance and macroeconomic management, infrastructure (transport, water, energy, and urban services), social sectors (education, health, social protection), and more. He has developed, negotiated and supervised major economic and institutional development programs, and public and private investment operations in various social and economic sectors including major infrastructure projects and economic reforms.

Hedi has an excellent knowledge of the economic, institutional, political and social challenges of Tunisia and the MENA region as well as of many Sub-Saharan countries. To a lesser extent, his regional experience extends to Latin American Countries and East and Central European Countries in the context of cross-support and policy advice to governments and World Bank teams. Hedi holds an MSc in Civil Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, and an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School.

TEAM

HOUAIDA GHARBI

HOUAIDA GHARBI

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

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Houaida Gharbi is a senior project manager at the Carthage Institute. She has more than 11 years' professional experience in private sector organizational performance, value chain expansion, export consultancy, skills development, and project management.

Houaida is a Certified Export Consultant from ITC Geneva (CTAP certification). She has participated in several technical assistance missions to strengthen the capacity of the Tunisian Chambers of Commerce (CBACAP) project funded by the State Department. Currently, she provides technical assistance to Tunisian Chambers of Commerce in strengthening their capacities in export development, rollout of value-added services and advocacy projects. She is leading the technical aspects of this program including the organization of regional and national business events to promote specific business sectors (including organic olive oil, franchise food and services, organic fruits, metallurgy, construction, metallurgical and mechanical).

Houaida also facilitated workshops with regional development actors reporting on territorial promotion and sector analysis as part of the ART project for GIZ. She holds a Masters in both Insurance and Enterprise and European Markets from ESSECT (Leading business school in Tunisia).

EYA CHEMLI

EYA CHEMLI

ACCESS TO FINANCE, JOB CREATION

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Eya has more than three years of experience in the profit and non-profit sectors in Tunisia and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Tunis Business School. She is currently an Atlas Corps Fellow serving at the economic growth division of Creative Associates International in Washington DC. She most recently worked as an access to finance specialist under a USAID-funded job creation program, the Business Reform and Competitiveness Project. In this capacity, she was integrally involved in a broad range of initiatives designed to increase the accessibility of capital for small and medium enterprises in Tunisia, including promoting investment, capacity building with banks and microfinance institutions, technical assistance to enterprises seeking financing, and the implementation of economic reforms to improve the Tunisian business environment.
 
  Before this, Eya worked on the development and implementation of an online platform serving nonprofit stakeholders and promoting their role in local development outcomes. As donor relations coordinator, she was responsible for grant management and coordination with institutional donors.
Eya is also actively involved in diverse social organizations. During her studies, she was a member of the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences (AIESEC), where she worked on corporate social responsibility advocacy and participated in the organization of seminars and conferences to engage new AIESEC members. She also spent six weeks in Pune, India, teaching English to underprivileged children.

Eya also has participated in several capacity-building programs such as EFE ideation camp, where her team developed a web/mobile application promoting eco-tourism in Tunisia. Through these experiences, she has developed strong project management, organizational, reporting, and communication skills. Her areas of expertise include economic development, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and youth empowerment. She enjoys playing piano and she is passionate about animal welfare.     

WAHID KRAIEM

WAHID KRAIEM

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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Wahid Kraiem is a local economic development expert at the Carthage Institute. He has 6 years of professional experience in local governance, local economic development, regional development, public sector and civil society capacity building, and public policy advocacy.

Wahid has been leading a World Bank project on the institutional structure of local governance and economic development in Tunisia. He also participated in the performance assessment of Tunisia’s municipalities, helped set up and coordinate a multi-donor trust fund supporting Tunisia’s local governments, organized workshops for a multi-sectoral task force on lagging regions, and contributed to a study on regional development in Tunisia. Wahid also served as a consultant on the MEPI Tunisia Chambers of Commerce Capacity Building Program where he led activities related to youth entrepreneurship and dematerialization of export procedures through a Chambers of Commerce e-portal.

Wahid holds a Bachelor in Political Science, a Master in International Political Economy and a Master in International Law from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

YASMINE OUAFI

YASMINE OUAFI

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND GRANTS MANAGEMENT

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Yasmine Ouafi has 3 years of experience in market research and analysis, and grants management for international donors such as the U.S. Department of State.

Yasmine co-led the technical assistance to youth-serving organizations as part of a Chamber of Commerce and Business Association Capacity Building program in Tunisia, with the aim of increasing competitiveness, growing entrepreneurship and creating jobs.

For the past 2 years, Yasmine has been the Grant Monitoring and Evaluation manager for the Tunisia Chambers of Commerce and youth organizations capacity building (CBACAP) program. She acquired deep knowledge of requirements for the successful management and administration of DOS grants and hands-on experience of managing operations with multiple stakehdolders. Yasmine has also been directly engaged in planning, budgeting and implementation of the CBACAP project, monitoring programmatic activities; project expenses, resource planning and coordination of team’s activities across multiple project components

Yasmine holds a Masters degree in Finance from ESSECT (leading business school in Tunisia)

RYM BAOUENDI

RYM BAOUENDI

SME DEVELOPMENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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Rym Baouendi is an SME development expert at the Carthage Institute. She has 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship development, youth empowerment, and urban sustainability in Tunisia and the wider MENA region. She is the founder of Medina Works, a sustainability consultancy that aims to advance the Sustainable Development Goals through urban regeneration and impact entrepreneurship development. She is also co-founder of Cogite, Tunisia’s first coworking space, voted as third best in the World by Forbes Magazine.


Rym’s experience in entrepreneurship, both as an entrepreneur and as a consultant, has made her one of the foremost specialists in building enabling entrepreneurship ecosystems, designing and implementing entrepreneurship development programs and supporting entrepreneurs though training, coaching and mentorship. She brings particular expertise in social entrepreneurship, social innovation, impact measurement.

Rym holds a Master in Civil Engineering and Urban Planning from INSA de Lyon and in Built Engineering from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. She is also a fellow of the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program and of THNK: The Amsterdam School for Creative Leadership.

HATEM MLIKI

HATEM MLIKI

DECENTRALIZATION

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Hatem Mliki is a decentralization expert at the Carthage Institute. He has more than 22 years of experience in Tunisia and the MENA region working with international organizations on decentralization management and over 10 years in project management of donor-funded programs. He is a recognized international expert in the fields of local governance, local economic development, and decentralization, and regularly advises all levels of Tunisian government.

Over the past three years, Hatem advised the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment in the development of the decentralization strategy adopted in 2015 that extended services to over 350 municipalities. He led the development of the PAI participative, a participatory budgeting process to be implemented nationwide, and has advised on the Local Government Code and the recent electoral law. He also assisted the World Bank and Ministry of Local Affairs in a mid-term evaluation of a new local government financing framework and brought clarification to the financing conditions for a total of 273 re-administered municipalities.

Hatem is active in several programs to strengthen the capacity of civil society on issues related to participation, transparency, accountability, gender, and anticorruption. He holds a masters degree in economics from the University of Tunis

SAHAR ALYOUSEF

SAHAR ALYOUSEF

SME DEVELOPMENT ,INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING

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Sahar Alyousef is a technical advisor at the Carthage Institute. She is a creative, strategic, and high-impact international economic development expert, offering an entrepreneurial vision with extensive experience managing and implementing programs, projects and initiatives worldwide within organizational and policy reform, business analysis, institutional transformation, executive mentorship, and capacity building domains. She provides expertise to public institutions, SMEs, and NGOs with USAID, MEPI, EU and GIZ programs in Jordan, Tunisia, Palestine and Georgia building their capacities to develop more efficient, transparent and customer-centric paradigms, promoting innovative management systems, embedding continuous improvement cultures and achieving a shift towards competitive institutional mindsets.

Sahar led several components of the CBACAP program in Tunisia where her distinctive leadership and management approach secured significant advantage driving cross-functional team collaboration among chambers to achieve maximum results within SMEs members of these chambers.

Sahar holds an MBA. from Manchester Business School, UK, and a bachelor of science in Industrial Engineering from Jordan University

RAMI TAKROURI

RAMI TAKROURI

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

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Rami Takrouri is the Carthage Institute’s Public Policy Advocacy Advisor. Mr. Takrouri is an economic and social activist and manager with 20 years of experience managing social and economic national and international funded development projects. He started his career as a commercial lawyer in Jordan. 

  Rami has a wealth of management and technical experience in the Southern Mediterranean region. He worked to assist governments to apply best practices in policy development in order to create a modern regulatory environment by utilizing an innovative and highly effective consultative process and the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) tool that helped the governments to issue better policies and legal instruments. 

  He employed a similarly innovative approach to support social and economic development initiatives spearheaded by business associations and NGOs in order to influence public opinion and engage the organizations and people in the policy making process. Rami is working now with local and international foundations and NGOs on different issues, such as youth employability, political and social community development programs, mobility, arts and culture, and legal justice, where he is supporting the organizations in developing and implementing advocacy programs.
  On all projects he mentored and trained public and private sector staff on management, policy development, public policy advocacy, and strategic communications. Rami worked extensively with the Tunisian Chambers of Commerce to enhance their advocacy capabilities as part of the CBACAP program.

Articles

The Carthage Institute is the economic advisory and development arm of the Tunisian American Young Professionals.