The call for applications for the 8th Orange (www.Orange.com) Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East opens today and will run through 31 May 2018, under the “Orange Social Venture Prize” section on the http://EntrepreneurClub.orange.com/en.

This prize, awarded by Orange, rewards innovative projects based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) which improve the living conditions of people in Africa and the Middle East in fields such as education, healthcare, farming, mobile payments or sustainable development.

The competition will start with a national phase, during which each of the 17 participating Orange subsidiaries will assess the projects submitted in its country and select 3 winners. This will be followed by an international phase, during which all 51 national winners will compete for an international jury which will present the Orange Social Venture Prize grand prize to the three final winners at the AfricaCom Awards event, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa in November.

In addition to their national prizes, the three winners will receive €25,000, €15,000 and €10,000 respectively, as well as six months of personalised support from start-up creation and financing professionals.

The Orange Social Venture Prize is open to all students, employees and entrepreneurs over age 21 whose initiative is under three years old and serves Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tunisia, Jordan, Liberia or Burkina-Faso.

Bruno Mettling, CEO Orange Middle East and Africa, says: “1,200 projects were submitted in 2017, a 60% increase over 2016. Support for talented start-ups is at the heart of Orange’s development strategy. With the Orange Social Venture Prize, we reaffirm our commitment to being a partner for the innovators working to improve daily life ever year.”

Detecting young talents is a core element of Orange’s strategy. Since its creation in 2011, the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East has already provided support to close to twenty projects.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Orange.