Ali Mnif
Ali Mnif is a prominent Tunisian entrepreneur and business leader born in 1987. He graduated with a degree in marketing from the prestigious Institute des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Carthage in 2010. Mnif's career was significantly influenced by the Tunisian Revolution, which began in 2010 and resulted in the ousting of the long-standing dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. This pivotal moment inspired him to remain in Tunisia and contribute to its development rather than emigrate.
In 2011, he co-founded MAZAM, a project management agency that supports entrepreneurs and startups. His efforts led to the passage of Tunisia's Startup Act in 2018, a landmark legislation aimed at fostering a more conducive environment for new businesses and economic growth. Recognized as progressive within the region, the Act has positively impacted numerous enterprises, particularly benefiting educated youth and promoting innovation.
Additionally, Mnif has held significant roles in organizations like Silatech and Digital Africa, where he focused on creating job opportunities and advancing technology in Africa. His contributions to entrepreneurship and economic development in Tunisia have earned him accolades, including the Doha Prize for Economic Innovation in 2014.
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Subject Terms
Ali Mnif
Entrepreneur, activist
- Born: 1987
- Birthplace: Tunisia
Significance: Alif Mnif is an activist and business entrepreneur who rose to prominence in Tunisia during the Arab Spring movement after he founded MAZAM, a project management and business development agency.
Background
Alif Mnif was born in Tunisia in 1987. He went to high school at the Lycée Pilote de Sfax in Sfax, Tunisia, from 2000 to 2005 and received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Institute des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Carthage (IHEC) in Tunis in 2010. The IHEC Carthage was founded in 1942 as the first business school in Tunisia and considered to be the best in the country.
Life’s Work
The day-to-day struggles and poor economic conditions of life under dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali were difficult for citizens to bear. In late 2010, after city officials humiliated him, a vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. Alif Mnif had had enough and was planning on emigrating from Tunisia as his older siblings had already done.
However, intense civilian protests at the end of that year against lack of political freedom and corruption were successful at ousting Ben Ali, who fled the country. This moment inspired Mnif and gave him hope that conditions in his country might soon improve. He said that Ben Ali’s being ousted from Tunisia was the reason he decided to stay. After Ben Ali fled, Youssef Chahed became the country’s prime minister. At the age of forty-two, he was the youngest person ever to lead Tunisia.
Galvanized by the social and political changes, in 2011, Mnif and a business partner, Faycel Terzi, founded MAZAM, a project management and program development agency. MAZAM works directly with entrepreneurs and startup businesses to get their projects off the ground and develop them into successful companies. The organization works with a wide variety of partners, including startups, banks, venture capitalist firms, non-governmental organizations, small to medium-size enterprises, incubators, accelerators, and coworking spaces, as well as the Tunisian government and many embassies throughout the world.
After only a few years, the success of MAZAM influenced the country’s economy and led to the passage of the Startup Act, which was legislation consisting of twenty guidelines detailing transparent, equitable rules for Tunisia’s economy and new business. The guidelines swept away legal red tape prohibiting efficient business development and offered various incentives and benefits. Passed by an almost unanimous vote in April 2018, more than 380 new businesses benefited from the terms of the Startup Act as well as established businesses that were able to expand their operations globally. However, Mnif acknowledged that the Startup Act mostly benefited Tunisia’s college graduates rather than its working class but believed it was a step in the right direction. The legislation also benefited existing business such as InstaDeep, a company that was founded in Tunisia but is headquartered in London, England. InstaDeep built a joint lab with BioNTech, a German company that developed a COVID-19 vaccine with Pfizer. Another benefactor of the legislation was the French-Tunisian company nextProtein, which promotes insects as a food source.
In 2014, Mnif moved on to become the country manager of Silatech, a company that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities for young people throughout the Arab world. As the country manager, Mnif was responsible for coordinating the deployment of resources to ensure that Silatech’s programs and initiatives were managed efficiently and effectively.
In 2023, Mnif served as the chief investment officer of the company Digital Africa, where he oversaw technology business development and advocated for STEM education and progressive scientific research in Africa.
Impact
Mnif’s work has helped Tunisia’s economy and business culture flourish. The Startup Act is “one of the most progressive of its kind in the world” according to Mohamed El Dahshan, a development economist affiliated with London’s Chatham House. The passage of the Startup Act also marked the first time in the Arab region that startups successfully lobbied policymakers to change the laws affecting them. To cement the benefits of the act and further expand on them, it is hoped that the Startup Act 2.0 will be passed in the coming years with a focus on making it easier for creative entrepreneurs to work more closely with the government. This act should further streamline the services provided by the initial act in the current technological climate.
In May 2014, Mnif was awarded the Doha Prize for Economic Innovation, which is given by the University of California Los Angeles’s Center for Middle East Development. The Prize is given to individuals or organizations with novel ideas that stimulate the business environment for small- and medium-sized enterprises, improve education and training to increase skills and employability; and promote public sector innovation in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region.
Bibliography
Ashiru, Grace. “The Startup Act 2.0 Will Soon be Introduced in Tunisia.” Tech in Africa.com, 19 Feb. 2023, techinafrica.com/the-startup-act-2-0-will-soon-be-introduced-in-tunisia/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Kteily, Khaled and Alif Mnif. “Bottom-Up Policymaking: A Look at the Origins of the Landmark Tunisian Startup Act.” Entrepreneur Middle East, 11 Jun. 2018,entrepreneur.com/en-ae/entrepreneurs/bottom-up-policymaking-a-look-at-the-origins-of-the/314803. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Mnif, Ali. “Revolutionizing Entrepreneurship Education in Tunisia.” WISE, 23 May 2016, wise-qatar.org/revolutionizing-entrepreneurship-education-tunisia-ali-mnif/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Mnif, Ali. “Why Tunisia Needs a Skills Revolution.” World Economic Forum, 14 Jan. 2015, weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/why-tunisia-needs-a-skills-revolution/?utm‗content=buffer87b2b&utm‗medium=social&utm‗source=twitter.com&utm‗campaign=buffer. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Mnif, Ali. How to Better Support the Entire African Tech Ecosystem?” Resilient Digital Africa, 14 Sept. 2021, resilient.digital-africa.co/en/blog/tech‗voices/ali-mnif-how-to-better-support-the-entire-african-tech-ecosystem/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
“Mr. Ali Mnif: Country Manager of Silatech in Tunisia.” WISE, wise-qatar.org/biography/ali-mnif/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Sold, Katrin. “The Tunisian Startup Act.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 26 Jun. 2018, carnegieendowment.org/sada/76685. Accessed 19 June 2023.