"My goal in life has always been to avoid unemployment. After I graduated from university with a master’s degree in management, I struggled to find a job in my field, so I started working as a cab driver with my brother. We realized that we were spending a good part of our income on car maintenance, which gave us the idea to open a spare parts store. I financed the business with a loan from the bank and some financial support from my family. The business began well, but when the COVID-19 crisis hit, we were forced to close for two months, causing our inventory to grow and putting us under pressure from our suppliers. I heard about the COVID-19 Enterprise Recovery Fund established by the US government through the USAID Tunisia JOBS program on the radio. I applied on the project’s website, with the aim of using the funds to improve my services and even-out my budget."

Karim Boulifi – Owner, Comptoir Boulifi spare parts