Orange launches the 2016 Orange Social Venture competition

Orange Botswana has launched the 2016 edition of the annual Orange Social Venture Prize. The annual competition is in its 5th edition with this year’s competition running from 18 May 2016 until 21 September 2016.

The Orange Social Venture Prize is aimed at serving development by stimulating innovation. This is done through showcasing 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 five years, 2000 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. Through this initiative Orange aims to be the digital partner of startups in Africa and the Middle East.

According to Orange Botswana Foundation and PR Manager, Boga Chilinde-Masebu, the project aims at promoting social innovation for development, thanks to information and communication technologies. “By promoting social ventures, Orange aims at raising awareness about the role that Information and Communication Technologies can play in development,” she stated. Four projects or enterprises addressing needs of the bottom of the pyramid market in Africa and the Middle East through technology will be rewarded.

The digital projects may range from e-health and mobile banking to digital and mobile applications for education or agriculture. In addition, the winning project should represent huge opportunities for social development. To enter the competition participants must be more than 21 years old, they can either be students, entrepreneurs running companies with no more than three years on the launch day of the competition.

“We insist on participants being newly formed businesses because one of the major objectives of this initiative is to support startup companies in our affiliate countries. With that in mind, proposed projects must target an Orange affiliate in Africa and the Middle East with their core business using technology in an innovative way to enhance living conditions of local populations,” said Chilinde-Masebu. The applications forms are available online (entrepreneurclub.orange.com/eng).