Essma Ben Hamida is the co-founder of the NGO Enda Inter-arabe and the microfinance institution Enda Tamweel. A social entrepreneur and development activist, Essma was the first to introduce microfinance to Tunisia, empowering low-income individuals to improve their livelihoods. Her career began as a high school teacher, and she later became a journalist, serving as chief correspondent for the Tunisian Press Agency and reporting on UN development projects across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In 1990, Essma returned to Tunisia with her husband, Michael Cracknell, to launch Enda Tamweel, Tunisia’s first best-practice microfinance institution. Over 24 years, Enda has supported 800,000 low-income micro-entrepreneurs, primarily women in disadvantaged urban and rural areas.

Today, Enda Tamweel serves nearly 400,000 active clients across 93 branches in Tunisia’s 24 governates. In August 2018, Essma stepped down as CEO of Enda Tamweel to focus on chairing Enda Inter-arabe, which empowers women and promotes entrepreneurship among youth, addressing Tunisia’s high unemployment.

She remains on the board of Enda Tamweel and serves on the board of the Ibn Khaldoun Development Forum, a Tunisian think tank. Essma has received numerous awards, including the title of “Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in the Middle East and North Africa” from the Schwab Foundation and the World Economic Forum in 2010, recognizing her impact on social entrepreneurship in the region.