SMU

Southern Mediterranean University

Summary of Proposed Investment

This Summary of Proposed Investment is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of the IFC Board of Directors’ consideration of the proposed transaction. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities, and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board decision. Board dates are estimates only.

Project number	25739
Company name	South Mediterranean University
Country	Tunisia
Sector	Education Services
Environmental category	B
Department	Health and Education
Status	Hold

Date SPI disclosed	February 16, 2007
Projected board date	April 25, 2007

View Environmental & Social Review Summary (ESRS), click here

Overview

Sponsor/Cost/Location

Development Impact

Contacts

Attachments

Project description

South Mediterranean University (SMU or the University), a private institution based in Tunis, is expanding its capacity by constructing a 1,200 student capacity campus in downtown Tunis. The project will enable SMU to launch:

- a full fledge business school for undergraduate degree and MBA program within the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB or the Business School); and
- a school of Information Technology and Computer Systems Engineering.

This project is phase I of the University’s two-phase expansion plan and is expected to be completed by 2010. Phase II, not included in the Project, will be the development of a 5,000 student capacity campus, with sports and residence facilities, in the northern suburb of Tunis. Should SMU be successful with Phase I, IFC could consider financing a portion of Phase II as well.

Anticipated development impact of the project

The project is expected to have a strong development impact by increasing access to quality higher education that is focused on the needs of the labor market. Unlike many higher education programs in Tunisia, the programs offered by SMU produce graduates with skills that are highly demanded by employers within Tunisia. Further, SMU has developed courses of graduate study that enable students to complete their studies while continuing to work, implementing a model of lifelong learning that is becoming increasingly important in both industrial and developing countries. Finally, the establishment of SMU's MBA and IT/computer engineering programs, will enable students who would otherwise travel abroad for such courses (and likely continue to work abroad) to remain in Tunisia, thus contributing to the building of the country's highly skilled labor force.

The project is also well aligned with the efforts/objective of the Tunisian government to improve the quality and access to higher education in the country.

IFC's expected development contribution

IFC, through its Corporate Social Responsibility unit, proposes to assist SMU with the development and introduction of a corporate social responsibility module in the MBA programme. The aim is to encourage enterprises in Tunisia and broadly in the MENA region to advance corporate citizenship practices and contribute to achieving sustainable development.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as an important priority for business leaders in every country. While CSR is better established in more mature corporate environments such as those in Europe and US, there is a growing awareness of CSR issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In Tunisia, there exist a series of mechanisms aiming to overcome present and foreseeable constraints to encourage adherence to responsible corporate citizenship. Education is certain to take a vital place to getting these efforts right. Successful leaders in business, government, civil society, entrepreneurs need to acquire a good understanding of today’s business issues and understand the new rules of economic engagements. SMU strives to be a leader in content delivery and serve as an educational hub in the region. Responding to this vision, a CSR course would be an important step for the integration of environmental and social concerns into business education and thinking.

Despite the need to promote sustainable development principles in Tunisia, CSR remains a relatively new phenomenon with the launching, in September 2005, of the Tunisian Global Compact Network (TGCN). TGCN was established under the "Sustainable Development through the Global Compact"�(SDGC) project which promotes corporate social responsibility�on the basis of three international instruments:�the UN Global Compact, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The SDGC project�aims at encouraging enterprises and the world of work to contribute to strengthening the social dimension of globalization and achieving sustainable development.

Environmental and social issues - Category B

South Mediterranean University is a category B project according to IFC's environmental and social review procedure. A summary of IFC’s environmental and social review findings for the project including the rationale for the B categorization will shortly be (is) publicly available in the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) disclosed through the World Bank’s Infoshop (http://www.ifc.org/projects). The Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP), which is attached to the ESRS, contains specific tasks that the client will undertake to mitigate perceived risks and impacts from the project, and to ensure compliance with IFC’s Performance Standards.

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