Monday (9 March 2020) marked the opening of the 10th Orange Prize for Social Entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East.
Until 5 June 2020, entrants will be able to upload their projects to the website https://startup.orange.com/, in the OSVP section.
Awarded by Orange, the prize recognises technological projects with a positive impact that improve living conditions for populations in Africa and the Middle East, in essential fields such as education, healthcare, agriculture, mobile payment or sustainable development.
The competition starts with a national phase during which each of the 17 Orange subsidiaries taking part will examine the projects submitted in its country and nominate three winners maximum. Then there will be a second international phase in which the winners from each country, up to 54 winners in total, will compete before an international panel which will award the OSVP grand prize at AfricaCom, the largest technological fair in Africa, which takes place in November in Cape Town, South Africa.
In addition, the 10 international finalists will have the opportunity to receive personalised support from experts in founding and financing new companies.
OSVP is aimed at students, employees or entrepreneurs aged over 21 years and start-ups that are less than three years old, in the following countries: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.
Like the three 2019 winners: Chaque Souffle Compte (Cameroon), J-Palm Liberia (Liberia) and Flit Ride (Madagascar); the three international winners will receive, in addition to the national prizes, respectively €25 000, €15 000 and €10 000.
This year, a women’s prize worth €20 000 has been added to the three international prizes, to encourage Women’s Entrepreneurship on the continent. This prize will reward either a woman, or a project offering a technological solution to improve the living conditions of women (women’s independence, creating or maintaining jobs, data collection on gender, digital inclusion and financial inclusion, etc).
In addition, a special prize worth €10 000 will also be given by the international panel. As part of the Group’s strategy, whose ambition is to make digital technology an opportunity for everyone, the special prize will reward a project that improves the daily life of ‘vulnerable’ people (disabled or marginalised people or those who are socially and financially disadvantaged, etc).