Writing a constitution in a democratic transition with Noomane Fehri
Channel: Jascha R. W. Rohr
Date: 2022-04-21

In the Arab Spring Noomane was elected as a member of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly in 2011 to write a new constitution for the country. He was then re-elected to the subsequent Assembly of People’s Representatives in 2014 and served as Minister of Digital economy.

In this conversation we discuss with Noomani the process of drafting a constitution for an emerging democracy in the Arab world. What considerations had been made? How was the drafting and decision making process organised? What role played the distribution of power and the influence of interests in the drafting of the constitution? What was the governance design, the conceptual thoughts behind the constitution and what strengths and flaws did the final constitution entail? We also want to track the recent democratic development in Tunisia on the basis of that constitution and understand how the new governance code interacted with the actual political process. We enquire what positive and negative lessons can be learned for the future design of constitutions for emerging democracies and about the processes in which these designs are drafted and implemented.

About Noomane Fehri
Noomane was elected in 2011 as a member of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution for the country. He was then re-elected to the subsequent Assembly of People’s Representatives in 2014 and served as Minister of Digital economy.

He became Minister of Digital Economy in Tunisia in 2015 & 2016. Known to be a reformer and a leader in the digital economy space. His mandate has initiated the emergence of a Tunisian Startups Ecosystem which Noomane decided to support through the “Technology Payment card” & the “Startup Act” Law.  A law that inspired more than 10 African countries to stimulate their entrepreneurship ecosytem. Noomane is often referred to as the father of the Startup Act movement.

Since 2017, he is the Managing Partner of ODF (OurDigitalFuture) a company focused on building public policy, innovation ecosystem development and digital transformation. ODF founded and run the first privately run Incubator in Tunisia B@Labs, and was essential in developing the incubation and acceleration hubs in North Africa.

Noomane is a business angel and active member of Africa Startup Ecosystems.

He is currently :

Member of the steering committee of SmartAfrica Alliance
High Commissioner for the World Business Angel Forum responsible for Digital transformation.
President of the Maghreb Business Angel Network
President of the board of Novation City (a profitable public private technopole in Tunisia )
Member of the board of Enda a microfinance institution who served 1 Million customesr and has 450 000 active customers
Member of the Investment committee of Oman Investment Fund
He is also advisor to international development institutions on entrepreneurship & innovation ecosystems building (WorldBank, BADEA, …)
Noomane received the following Honors:

2014 : Medal of the order of Merit from President of Tunisia
2015 : Commander of the order of Freedom from President of Portugal
2015: Commander of the order of the North Star from King of Sweden
Noomane has a master’s degree in Geophysics from ENS-ULM and an engineering degree from French Petroleum Institute.

He is married with 3 children.

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