The Tunisian Consignment and Deposit Fund (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, CDC) and Bpifrance, a French public investment bank, are set to launch a €20m French-Tunisian private equity fund on February 5 in Tunis.

The fund will have a co-location approach with a duration of 12 years and extendable 2 years, and will aim to “support the funding of Tunisian or French SMEs with strong growth potential and wishing to expand their activities in Tunisia and France, but also in Africa, Middle East and Europe,” according to a source from the CDC.

The fund will allow Tunisian and French SMEs to consolidate their development projects and their competitive positions on the long term, which "will promote balanced and lasting commercial and industrial partnerships and later help share concrete actions in some specific market areas".

Companies supported by the co-location fund will have direct access to European and African markets and proximity to the Middle East.

The fund will invest in “innovating companies with at least €1m of turnover, run by dynamic managers and seeking capitals and international support.”

In addition, the Tunisian and French companies in which the fund will invest will need to "show an ability to develop and expand relations with partners from the two countries by different modes of cooperation (industrial, trade, research and international development)".