Orange has today called for submissions for the 13th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa to support social innovation and encourage entrepreneurship .
Since 2011, the POESAM prize has been awarded to innovative projects by start-ups, based on information and communication technologies that have a positive social impact in Africa and the Middle East in the fields of education, healthcare, e-commerce, and agriculture, or that contribute to achieving sustainable development goals.
Through this prize, Orange, as a committed operator, aims to contribute to the socio-economic development, support social and environmental innovation, and encourage entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East.
The competition has two stages:
A national stage to collect applications, between March and May 2023 in Orange’s 17 subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East. At the end of this application phase, a jury made up of representatives of the Orange’s start-up ecosystem will meet in each subsidiary to select 3 national winners (per subsidiary) who will automatically qualify for the second phase of the competition, the international stage;
An international stage, where each subsidiary will be represented by the projects of its 3 winners, which will be evaluated by an evaluation committee made up of Group employees. After their evaluation, they will select 10 finalists. A final jury of African tech influencers will select the 3 winners of the POESAM International Grand Prize in October/November 2023. They will receive:
€25,000 for 1st place;
€15,000 for 2nd place;
10,000 for 3rd place.
As equal opportunities are a key aspect of Orange policy, the International Women’s Prize will be awarded for the fourth consecutive year. This prize will be awarded to a woman who offers a technological solution to improve the living conditions of women (women’s independence, job creation or preservation, gender data collection, digital and financial inclusion, etc.). The winner will receive €20,000.