Africa: Orange launches the 2015 Orange African Social Venture Prize
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Saturday, May 23, 2015
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This initiative aims to encourage innovative start-up projects which help to accelerate development on the African continent
PARIS, France, May 21, 2015/ -- Orange (http://www.orange.com)
is launching the call for applications for the 5th edition of the
Orange African Social Venture Prize. This initiative aims to encourage
innovative start-up projects which help to accelerate development on the
African continent.
The
prize will recognize three projects with grants of 10,000, 15,000 and
25,000 euros, along with six months of support from Orange experts. The
first prize will also be offered a patent registration in the country of
the project’s deployment.
Internet
users are also invited to vote online for their favourite project on
Orange's entertainment portal in Africa, StarAfrica.com. The winner of
the “Favourite Project” will have its project submitted directly to the
jury along with the other project finalists.
Serving development by stimulating innovation
The
Orange African Social Venture Prize showcases entrepreneurs offering
innovative products or services that meet the needs of Africans in
fields such as health, agriculture, education, energy, industry or
trade.
Over
the past four years, 2,000 projects have been submitted for the Orange
African Social Venture Prize, reflecting the dynamism of African
entrepreneurs and the potential of the telecommunications sector in
Africa.
Supporting African entrepreneurship
Operating
in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East, Orange serves more than
100 million customers in the region. Given the positive impact that
digital services have on peoples’ daily lives, this presence means that
the Group plays a major role in Africa’s economy and future development.
As
a result, one of Orange’s main priorities is to improve connectivity,
particularly in rural areas, and to introduce value-adding mobile
services. The Group also supports entrepreneurs by offering a variety of
support programmes, both to entrepreneurs seeking to create their own
company and to mature start-ups. To achieve this, Orange is sharing its
experience and know-how by offering access to its networks and
platforms, and by facilitating the creation of new services by making
available its Application Programming Interface (API) catalogue. In
addition, the Group has created special mechanisms for acceleration or
incubation such as the Orange Fab programme in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as
supporting structures for financing and management. Since 2010, Orange
is a partner of the CTIC Dakar incubator, a reference in Western Africa.
In April 2014, the CIPME Niger incubator, which was initiated by
Orange, opened its doors to start-ups in the fields of renewable energy
and the environment.
Who can enter?
Any
entrepreneur (aged 21 or over) or legal entity that has been in
existence for fewer than three years may participate at no cost and with
no restriction on nationality. Submitted projects must be designed to
be deployed in at least one of the 17 African countries in which Orange
operates and must use information and communications technology in an
innovative way to help improve the living conditions of the populations
in these countries. Applications are accepted from 21 May to 18
September 2015 on Orange’s pan-African web portal, www.starafrica.com.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Orange.
Press contacts:
Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com
Caroline Simeoni; caroline.simeoni@orange.com
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