Sfax Technopole plans 15,000 m² expansion to drive innovation jobs
Tunisia's Technopark of Sfax has announced plans to build a 15,000 m² extension, with construction due to begin this year and the enlarged campus expected to open in 2028, aiming to reverse a chronic shortage of space that has pushed companies and multinationals out of the park.
The Technopole of Sfax is set to begin construction on a major site extension in 2026, with the enlarged facility due to open in 2028, the park's director general Mustapha Mezghani said in remarks reported by L'Économiste Maghrébin.
The planned addition covers 15,000 m² and is designed to significantly increase the park's hosting capacity and the number of jobs it supports on site. The park currently employs between 300 and 350 people — a figure Mezghani has described as constrained by the limited floor space available, which has forced several firms and multinationals to relocate after initially entering Sfax through the technopole's incubation programmes.
The Société de Gestion de la Technopole de Sfax (SGTS), which manages the park, is calling on private investors to co-finance the expansion. Mezghani, appointed director general in March 2025, has argued the case for tax exemptions to attract private capital, noting that for every dinar of public money invested across Tunisia's technopoles, the private sector has contributed 23 dinars — representing roughly three billion dinars in total private investment against 130 million dinars from the state.
Innovation and industry 4.0
The Sfax park, located at Sakiet Ezzit on the city's outskirts, focuses on information and communication technology, digital industry and multimedia. Its CoStarT incubator supports startups and entrepreneurs through coaching, mentoring and co-working space, and the park houses an Industry 4.0 competence centre developed in collaboration with Germany's development agency.
The expansion fits within Tunisia's industrial and innovation strategy to 2035 and the national development plan for 2026–2030. Mezghani has said he views research, development and innovation as the primary route to inclusive growth and decent employment for Tunisia's university graduates.
A city with strong tech foundations
Sfax is Tunisia's second city and its main economic centre outside Tunis. The University of Sfax, the country's second-largest higher-education cluster, trains engineers across 26 institutions and hosts 106 research laboratories and around 6,400 researchers, providing a talent pipeline that makes the technopole's ambitions viable.
Construction on the 15,000 m² extension is expected to start this year, with commissioning projected for 2028.