A national platform dedicated to crowdfunding was officially launched on Tuesday during a national forum on crowdfunding organised in Tunis. Amor Bouzaouada, Director General of the Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation (APII) said this project, supported by Expertise France and implemented by APII, will enable project owners to access funding via digital means. This funding can be in the form of donations, loans or investments, but unlike traditional funding methods, crowdfunding does not require any guarantees and the national platform that has just been launched provides the necessary data on the funding mechanism. Project owners are invited to submit their ideas online in order to attract local or foreign investors. Crowdfunding platforms are set up by companies controlled by the three supervisory authorities: The Central Bank, the Financial Market Council and the Microfinance Supervisory Authority in Tunisia, in order to combat money laundering. Ahlem Béji Sayeb, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said crowdfunding is a response to Tunisia’s socio-economic challenges and offers the possibility of financing any type of project. She added that “crowdfunding has become a tool for financing development as well as start-ups, and for mobilising resources, especially those of Tunisians living abroad,” she said, “This tool enables the Tunisian diaspora to contribute to the country’s development and boost investment. Crowdfunding is an alternative method of financing that allows a project owner to propose, via digital platforms, that a large number of people (contributors or investors) finance their project or business.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse