Orange has announced the four winners of the 2016 Orange Social Venture Prize for Africa and the Middle East during the AfricaCom Awards ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa.
The total prize of Euros 55,000, which aims to encourage start-ups in Africa to launch innovative projects that promote development, has been extended this year to the Middle East, with a new award, the Special Prize for Cultural Content, also introduced.
The three prize-winners received grants of 25,000, 15,000 and10, 000 Euros, and the winner of the Special Prize for Cultural Content received 5,000 Euros. In addition, the shortlisted finalists and the winner of the Special Prize for Cultural Content will benefit from six months of support from Orange experts and the NGO.
The first prize was awarded to Medtrucks of Morocco, while Nanoe of Madagscar and Ma Tontine, wwere awarded the second and third prizes, respectively. The Special Prize for Cultural Content was awarded to Bulles Magazine of Cote d’Ivoire.
The winners were selected by a jury made up of experts from Orange, journalists, investors and institutions that promote development, while the first prize winner will also be offered a patent registration.
For the sixth year in a row, the Orange Group recognized four innovative projects that further development 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.
More than 750 candidates responded to the call for projects, which ran from May to September 2016, reflecting the potential of the telecommunications sector to support development in Africa and Middle East in fields as diverse as healthcare, agriculture, education and energy.
Eleven projects were shortlisted and presented on Orange’s new pan-African web portal for entrepreneurs in the region.
