Press release: Orange launches the third edition of Orange African Social Venture Prize

Orange, which is present in 18 African countries and boasts over  70 million customers, is seeking to become a major player in the  economic and social development of every one of these countries. The  Group has decided to contribute to the development of the local markets  for new technologies through its ‘Orange for Development’ programme and  to propose innovative solutions which meet the needs of the local  population. In this context, and as part of its innovation strategy as  well as its Corporate Social Responsibility policy, that the Group has  decided to launch the Orange African Social Venture Prize.

The  call for projects has received more than 1,000 applications over the  past two years, a figure that reflects a true entrepreneurial spirit and  the potential for telecommunications on the African continent.

• Encouraging the use of ICTs for development

This  year, the Orange African Social Venture Prize will once again reward  three entrepreneurs or start-ups offering products or services that make  innovative use of ICTs to meet the needs of people on the African  continent in fields as varied as healthcare, agriculture, education,  energy, industry and trade.

For example, the prizewinning  projects in 2012 involved mobile technology used to assist traders in  food products in Ivory Coast (Vivuus Limited), a system launched in  Kenya to improve the treatment of waste (Takachar) and the creation of  an e-commerce site to allow people in the Senegalese diaspora to shop  online for their families in Dakar.

This year, internet users  will once again be able to vote online for their favourite project using  the Orange portal in Africa www.StarAfrica.com. The project voted  “online favourite” will be submitted directly to the jury along with the  other finalists’ projects preselected by the experts and will therefore  have the maximum possible chance of being among the three winners of  the 2013 Awards. In 2012, the Egyptian start-up “Innovative Electronic  Employment Platform” won the prize with more than 50,000 votes.

• Supporting social entrepreneurs

Orange  has committed to providing financial support and placing its expertise  at the service of the entrepreneurs who win the competition. In addition  to prize money ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 Euros, the three winners  will also receive support from professional entrepreneurs and ICT  experts for a period of six months. In another new initiative this year,  the project submitted by the winner of the first prize will be patented  by Orange in the country where it is deployed.

• Who can take part?

Any  entrepreneur aged 21 or over, or company that has existed for less than  three years at the time of the competition, regardless of nationality,  can enter the awards free of charge. The projects submitted must have  plans to deploy their service in at least one of the African countries  where Orange is present and make innovative use of information and  communication technologies to contribute to improving the living  conditions of people in those countries.

Applications may be submitted between 14 May and 20 September 2013 using the Orange portal in Africa: www.starafrica.com.

Discover  the details of the competition on www.starafrica.com, and the  presentation of the Orange African Social Venture Prize on video on  http://www.orange-innovation.tv/en/webtv/international-en/africa/orange_african_social_venture_prize_2013