The Société Tunisienne de Banque (STB), the Agence française de développement (AFD) and Expertise France signed in Tunis, on November 10, 2026, a memorandum of understanding under the project Rawafed+.
Rawafed+, financed by the European Union and the French Development Agency, and implemented by Expertise France, aims to strengthen access to financing for Tunisian very small, small and medium-sized enterprises (TPME) facing the challenges of the environmental and climate transition.
In the presence of Mr. Piergiorgio Graziotti, Head of Economic Section at the European Union Delegation, the protocol was signed by Mr. Rachid BATITA, General Manager of STB, Mr. Christophe COTTET, Director of the AFD in Tunisia, and Mrs. Séverine PETERS-DESTERACT, Director of Expertise France in Tunisia and in Libya.
“For the European Union, supporting Tunisia’s ecological transition also means giving businesses the means to invest, innovate and strengthen their competitiveness.
Through Rawafed+, and within the framework of our Team Europe approach, we are working with our partners to make green finance more accessible to Tunisian very small, small and medium-sized enterprises. This partnership with STB marks a new concrete step in our joint commitment: strengthening the capacities of the banking sector and making the ecological transition a real lever for sustainable growth, job creation and territorial development, in line with the Pact for the Mediterranean,” declares Piergiorgio Graziotti, Head of Economic Section at the European Union Delegation in Tunisia.
This cooperation follows the actions led by the European Union, the AFD and Expertise France to develop a more inclusive, more resilient and more mobilized financial sector in service of the ecological transition.
“This partnership with STB, within the Rawafed+ project, combines technical assistance and financial incentives to enable Tunisian TPMEs to access green finance in turn.”
It extends a nearly twenty-year commitment: since 2007, the SUNREF program, implemented with Expertise France, has financed around sixty projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy and pollution reduction through partner banks,” explains Mr. Christophe COTTET, Director of the AFD in Tunisia.
Under this partnership, STB will benefit from technical support designed to strengthen its capacities in sustainable finance, the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, as well as the identification, assessment and management of climate and environmental risks.
“With 90 small enterprises already supported in the regions, Rawafed+ is producing its first concrete results.
Thanks to its dense network of branches and its commitment to the ecological transition, STB is a key partner to amplify this momentum and reach more Tunisian TPMEs,” says Mrs. Séverine PETERS-DESTERACT, Director of Expertise France in Tunisia and Libya.
The protocol also provides for the establishment of a support mechanism for STB’s TPME clients, in the form of a green grant representing 10% of the financing amount granted, ranging from €1,000 to €50,000, to encourage investments contributing to improving the environmental performance of companies, notably in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable management of natural resources and adaptation to the effects of climate change.
“With its strong territorial presence and its network of more than 160 branches, STB is determined to play a leading role in guiding Tunisian TPMEs toward a more sustainable economy.
The partnership with Rawafed+ represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen the expertise of our staff in sustainable finance and create, across our entire network, a mobilizing dynamic in support of the ecological transition.
Through the green grant and the proposed support, we aim to help our clients turn their sustainability ambitions into concrete investment projects, generators of growth, competitiveness, and positive impact for Tunisia,” says Mr. Rachid BATITA, General Manager of STB.
Through this cooperation, the partners reaffirm their joint commitment to accelerating the sustainable transition in Tunisia by promoting a better orientation of financing toward investments with a positive impact and by strengthening TPMEs’ access to opportunities offered by the green economy.
Source: Press release
