I returned to Tunisia after 11 years in Europe. The advice and support provided by the CTA enabled me to fulfil my dream of starting my own business in Tunisia.

My name is Anouar and I'm 35 years old. I live near Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. I run a workshop in my family home, where I repair heating and cooling equipment as well as household electronic appliances. I returned to Tunisia from Germany in 2019. My main aim was to start my own business. I started a new chapter of my life and am now successful. The pathway to get here though was long and difficult.

Returning to Tunisia

I took the dangerous journey to Europe in 2008 in search of a better life. I initially landed in Italy where I stayed for seven years. But I wasn’t happy and missed my family. Then I went to Belgium because I hoped things would be better there. It was where I worked in the tiling industry.

I was already thinking about returning to Tunisia when I moved on to Germany in 2016. The problem was that I didn’t have a passport, so I couldn’t organise a return journey. I contacted the relevant authorities and explained my problem. The authorities organised a passport for me. While I was waiting, I learned German. I worked for a cleaning company, and as a volunteer in an asylum centre in the community where I was living at the time. Once my passport was ready, the authorities arranged my plane ticket to Tunisia and supported me with my return.

Starting your own business in Tunisia

After returning to Tunisia, I contacted the German-Tunisian Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (CTA). I met with an advisor at the centre and presented my idea. I was keen to become self-employed and the centre wanted to help me with that. I used my own funds to open a workshop. I only had the basic equipment in my workshop at the start. But the support I got from the CTA meant that I could buy more. My business developed very quickly.