GFH, the Bahrain-based financial group, and Tunis Financial Harbor (TFH), the commercial gateway to North Africa, recently announced that three leading US universities have agreed to establish a new $103 million (200 million Tunisian dinars) American University at the Tunis Financial Harbor. The initiative is being launch by US-based Clayton State University, Savannah State University and Michigan State University in partnership with University Montplaisir a local Tunisian university. Plans were announced at a press conference held in Tunis, which was attended by representatives from Tunis Bay Project Company and the partnering universities involved. The development of the university community, is intended to span over 5 hectares, and is scheduled to start in 2017 with an expected completion date of 2020. The project will be financed by the US universities involved as well as a group of local banks and high net worth investors. The university, will be a first of kind collaboration in North Africa, and will contain a variety of high level facilities and colleges including those focused on economics, engineering, medicine, pharmaceuticals and more. The announcement of the project is in line with the objectives and developmental plans of GFH's project, Tunis Financial Harbor, and comes to prove the strategic positioning of the project not only in Tunisia but in the North African region overall. Commenting, Lotfi Ezzar, CEO of Tunis Bay Project Company, said "we're delighted to announce that this exciting development will take place at Tunis Financial Harbor. This investment by three leading American universities underscores the important strategic position of TFH and the value that this project is adding to the local and surrounding economies. The establishment of this top tier university in Tunis will support efforts to further diversify the economy, build on the country's strong foundations and create jobs and opportunities for Tunisians and others across the region. TFH is a $3 billion mixed use development launched in 2008. It is being built across 523 hectares and aims to be the first world-class offshore financial center in North Africa. This vision is supported by its strategic location just 25km north of Tunis and only 15km from Carthage International Airport. TFH's location and its infrastructure will offer easy access for skills, knowledge and investment capital to flow from within the region and from international markets into Tunisia and Africa. In addition to a business hub, TFH has been master planned to serve as a modern urban environment where residents and their families can live and work. Once fully developed, TFH will feature Residential and Retail spaces, an 18 hole championship golf course, a beach community, souk, education facilities, hotels, financial center, marina and shopping malls which all together will create more than 16,000 jobs and accommodate 110,000 residents. — SG
