Orange launches the 2015 African Social Venture Prize

The Orange Group through Telkom Kenya has launched the call for applications for the fifth edition of the Orange African Social Venture Prize as Global Entrepreneurship Summit sets to Kick off this week.

The prize awards three projects with grants of 10,000, 15,000 and 25,000 Euros, along with six months of mentorship from Orange. The first prize will also receive free patent registration in the country of the project’s deployment.

Internet users are also invited to vote online for their favourite project on Orange’s entertainment portal in Africa, StarAfrica.com.

The winner of the “Favourite Project category” will have their project submitted directly to the jury along with the other project finalists to contend for the top three slots.

The Orange African Social Venture Prize showcases entrepreneurs offering innovative products or services that meet the needs of Africans in Africa, in fields such as health, agriculture, education, energy, industry or trade to provide a lasting social impact.

“Over the past four years, 2,000 projects have been submitted to the Venture Prize, reflecting the dynamism of African entrepreneurs and the potential of the telecommunications sector in positively impacting communities in Africa. As a result, one of Orange’s main priorities is to improve connectivity, particularly in rural areas, and to introduce value-adding mobile services. The Group also provides support by offering a variety of programmes, both to entrepreneurs seeking to create their own company as well as to grow start-ups,” says Orange Telkom Kenya’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, George Mlaghui.

In the second edition of the Orange African Social Venture Prize in 2012, the TAKACHAR project, a Kenya-based initiative, was the first runner up, taking home 15,000 Euros.

TAKACHAR, which provides an innovative system to improve waste management by using telecommunication to track waste collection in real time, enables cooperatives to operate more efficiently and increase the proportion of organic waste that can be transformed into charcoal.

Any entrepreneur (aged 21 or over) or a legally recognised company that has been in existence for less than three years may participate at no cost and with no restriction on nationality.

Submitted projects must be designed for deployment in at least one of the 17 African countries in which Orange operates and must use information and communications technology in an innovative way to help improve the living conditions of the people in these countries. Applications are to be submitted by September 18, 2015 on Orange’s pan-African web portal.