Inauguration of the "Excellence Center for Entrepreneurship" in Tunis
The "Action Against Exclusion" association (FACE Tunisia) inaugurated, on Thursday, October 16, 2025, in the old city of Tunis, the "Excellence Center for Entrepreneurship" aimed at allowing women artisans from all over the Republic to exhibit their handicraft products, as well as offering them professional training workshops in multiple fields.
The project coordinator, Ikbal Chebbi, indicated that this initiative represents an artisanal village that aims to enable women to learn a manual trade and enhance the intangible heritage, such as the manufacture of the traditional Tunisian basket (al-qoffa), manual embroidery, the production of the Bizerte net (chabka de Bizerte), pottery, and the weaving and embroidery of carpets (zarbiya).
Ikbal Chebbi emphasized that this project targets all age groups, including retired women and young ambitious women who have managed to learn traditional trades considered masculine in the collective imagination, particularly leather and copper craftsmanship.
Center Facilities
The center includes exhibition spaces for handicraft products and a digital house equipped with modern computers and electronic tablets, aiming to enable women and young people to use technology and develop their digital skills in order to market their products online.
Association's Goals
The president of the "Action Against Exclusion" association, Zehra Ben Nasr, stated that nearly a thousand women have benefited from this program, a number likely to increase, inviting interested individuals to visit the center to learn a trade or discover the manufacturing process of Tunisian products.
She affirmed that the center aims to preserve Tunisian heritage and develop tourism. A visit to the center promotes Tunisian craftsmanship, which represents our intangible heritage, and transmits knowledge from generation to generation through training sessions.
Project Background
She added that this project is the result of 10 years of work on the ground and development projects, and that 1,800 women from different regions have been trained within the framework of these projects. The association found that most women who want to work need training and information on existing laws that help them sell their products and on marketing methods.
Institutional Support
The president of the Amicale des agents and fonctionnaires de l'Institut National du Patrimoine, Zouheir Chagouai, highlighted that this event is part of the economic empowerment of Tunisian women, indicating that the center's location is strategic for attracting visitors.
He emphasized that the National Heritage Institute values all initiatives aimed at preserving intangible heritage and the essence of each trade before moving on to the modernization process.
