Launched in 2011, the Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) in Africa and the Middle East recognizes the best tech start-up projects that make a positive impact on society or the environment in their region or align with sustainable development goals. The competition reflects the Group’s drive to further socioeconomic progress in its operating countries, support social and environmental innovation and encourage entrepreneurship. This year, nearly 1,400 applications were submitted from across the 17 countries involved in the competition. The OSVP is split into two awards: The International Women’s Prize, which awards €20,000 to the winner whose business venture is led by women entrepreneurs or with the primary purpose of improving women’s lives by developing solutions to specific obstacles or issues they face. The International Grand Prix, which recognizes three projects that harness tech to make a positive social and environmental impact. The three winners receive the following:1st prize: €25,0002nd prize: €15,0003rd prize: €10,000. For the second time in 12 years, the panel decided to award the Judges’ Choice prize – €10,000 given to a project that is expected to make a particularly significant impact. At the Mobile World Congress Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 25 to 27, 2022, Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Director CSR, Diversity and Philanthropy and Deputy Chair for the Orange Foundation, and Brelotte Ba, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East & Africa, held a ceremony during which the winners were announced. The winner of the International Women’s Prize is: iRole (Jordan) – iRole! is a digital platform that connects women looking for remote work with organizations seeking to fill such vacancies. The winners of the International Grand Prix are: 3rd prize: Kamioun (Tunisia) – Kamioun has developed an e-commerce platform to supply local convenience stores in Tunisia. 2nd prize: Biomass4GLC (Mali) – Biomass4GLC produces and distributes biogas suitable for cooking in Mali by renting out connected systems. 1st prize: LifeBlood (Sierra Leone) – LifeBlood is a digital health platform designed to solve the acute shortage of blood products available in the country’s healthcare system. The winner of the Judges’ Choice prize is: Abana (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Abana is a marketplace through which clothes designers can sell their creations to shoppers. Since the OSVP was launched in 2011, Orange has awarded €600,000 in prize money to over 30 winners and has financed mentoring and support for nearly 90 entrepreneurs from experts at Orange or its partners. Across the continent, which is enjoying vibrant population growth and considerable economic momentum, young African entrepreneurs find themselves more in need of support than ever. As a long-standing driver of progress in Africa, Orange seeks to support young people by giving them the possibility to raise their profile, through the Orange Social Venture Prize. Orange puts in place tangible action to promote and improve gender equality, an area that has long been identified by the Group as a priority, for example by creating the International Women’s Prize and including it in the OSVP. Part of the competition for three years now, this prize acknowledges projects designed to improve women’s lives. Social entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East is more deeply rooted than ever in the lives of people, especially women. This trend is confirmed by the number of female candidates collected under the OSVP 2022 which is in line with the continental average, which is nearly 30% according to World Bank.
