Orange has revealed the winners of the 2016 Orange Social Venture Prize for Africa and the Middle East during the AfricaCom Awards ceremony, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa
The prize, which aims to enable start-ups in Africa to set-up new projects in a bid to push growth in the continent, has this year also included the Middle East.
Orange awarded the prize to four innovative projects that have supported growth within the region. The objective is to stimulate entrepreneurs’ initiatives that use new technologies to meet the needs of people in Africa and the Middle East.
According to Orange, more than 750 candidates put themselves forward for the prize, reflecting the potential of the telecommunications sector to support development in Africa and Middle East in fields as diverse as healthcare, agriculture and education.
"With nearly 3,500 projects filed since 2011, the Orange Social Venture prize has grown into a huge success; the 750 candidate projects that were submitted in 2016 amply illustrate this. The start-up ecosystem now increasingly recognizes Orange as an indispensable partner that is able to support their development: 95 per cent of the winning start-ups since the award’s inception are still growing today. I thank them for their confidence," said Bruno Mettling, CEO of Orange MEA.
