Episode 28: Mobilising Tunisian diaspora talent and investment - insights from GIZ's Oula Tarssim

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Good morning and you're listening to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host, Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory.

Today's guest is Oula Tarssim, the German Development Cooperation's (GIZ) Tunisia Coordinator for the Migration & Diaspora Programme.

Oula was born and raised in Germany to Tunisian parents. She started her career in marketing and management consultancy in Germany, before moving to Tunisia to work with the German-Tunisian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as an integrated expert, as part of a GIZ collaboration. She went on to manage several German and EU-funded projects on youth employment, vocational training, and the engagement of diaspora talent.

In today's far-reaching discussion, we talk all about Oula's lessons learned from her work with the Tunisian diaspora. We start by hearing about Oula's own diaspora experience, from growing up in Germany to her diaspora "return" - which, as you'll hear, wasn't so much returning as moving to a new place! Oula then shares with us her lessons learned from several years of identifying and mobilising Tunisian diaspora talent, including how she managed to build long-term networks within the confines of the development cooperation project model.

We close with some of Oula's ongoing work to build an online diaspora entrepreneurship ecosystem, including her fascinating ideas about how to "tokenise" diaspora engagement.

There's so much value in this episode so without further ado, thank you for listening and please do enjoy the show.

Useful links

• Connect with Oula on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/oula-tarssim-b21b72163/
• GIZ Programme Migration & Diaspora - https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/78803.html
• Subscribe to The Migration & Diaspora Podcast and view the archive - https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast