Together with the EU, the EBRD actively supports private sector SMEs in Tunisia in their efforts to reach higher standards. The Bank’s EU-supported Advice for Agribusiness programme is part of this work. The EBRD supports local companies to improve their standards of corporate governance, sanitary and environmental standards, technical requirements and marketing standards etc.
Patrice Bergamini, EU Ambassador to Tunisia, said: “The EU, together with its partner the EBRD, is committed to supporting Tunisian businesses in their endeavours to grow and become more competitive. The advisory programme also aims to support Tunisia in its economic transition and deepen EU-Tunisia economic integration further.”
Leading ice cream and dairy producer GIPA was one of the first companies that benefited from the Advice for Agribusiness programme.
GIPA has three production sites and around 1,200 employees. GIPA’s workforce is equally comprised of men and women, both in production and management positions.
Over two years, the Advice for Agribusiness programme helped GIPA focus on a wide range of management and operational issues: from consulting on how to improve supply chain management and increasing production efficiency, to improving corporate governance and marketing.
Progress is visible across the board and especially in logistics. In addition, with the help of a commercial specialist, the company improved its marketing procedures for new product launches.
Youssef Ghrib, GIPA CEO, said: “The project has helped us develop our distribution system and supply chain. There were too many actors working separately, which was difficult to coordinate, especially during the busy summer season. With a new logistics system and procedures in place, we restructured our organisation and improved supply to our customers.”
“In practice, the Advice for Agribusiness programme gives local companies the opportunity to engage international advisers to help them develop and implement strategies to improve their business operations and competitiveness. Such advice would usually be difficult and expensive to obtain but, thanks to EBRD donor support, local companies can benefit from international expertise at a much lower cost,” explained the EBRD’s Nemanja Grgic.
The programme is also active in Morocco and Egypt, again supported by the EU.
Original source: EBRD
Published on 12 July 2018
