In December 2019, Orange and the Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), signed a partnership agreement with a joint financial contribution of more than 30 million euros aimed at promoting the employability of young people, entrepreneurship and digital innovation skills in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The development partnership is implemented by GIZ and Orange as part of BMZ I s develoPPP.de programme and will help to develop the digital skills of at least 20,000 young people and create 8,000 jobs in these countries.
Following this global agreement, the Orange Cameroon Foundation signed a partnership agreement with GIZ locally to deploy an Orange Digital Center and strengthen its activities. The objective of this partnership between Orange and GIZ is to make digital technology an opportunity for all. GIZ and the Orange Foundation share a common vision of achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), work to improve the socio-economic conditions and support the Cameroonian government’s objectives of harnessing digital technology for sustainable development.
The Orange Digital Center (ODC) is an ecosystem that brings together a range of programs in one place: from digital skills training for young people and the acceleration of innovative start-ups, to support and investments for project leaders. In concrete terms, the centre includes a coding school, a FabLabSoIidaire of the Orange Foundation, an Orange Fab start-up accelerator and Orange Ventures Africa, the Orange Group’s investment fund.
Each of these four programmes is aimed at a specific public. The coding school, a technological centre free and open for all, offers training, events and support for developers, geeks and project idea bearers.
The FabLab Solidaire, a digital manufacturing workshop (maker space) for creating and prototyping with digital equipment, is also aimed at this type of public, but also targets young people without diplomas or jobs. The ODC I s FabLabSoIidaire is part of the worldwide network of the Orange Foundation’s 129 FabLabs Solidaires.
Orange Fab and Orange Digital Ventures Africa are programmes that target entrepreneurs. The first is a start-up accelerator that accompanies the most promising ones in their commercial development and also helps them build commercial partnerships with the Orange Group and the global network of Orange Fabs. The second, Orange Ventures Africa, is a €50 million investment fund that finances innovative start-ups in countries on the African continent and in the Middle East region.
Orange Digital Center creates synergies between all these programmes. Based in the economic capital of each country, the ODC will be present in the regions as well, through ODC Clubs that will be deployed in partner universities.
Already launched in Tunisia and Senegal, the Orange Digital Center ecosystem, already operational in Douala, will be inaugurated officially and soon in Cameroon. Simultaneously, it will be deployed in Morocco, Jordan, Ethiopia, Mali, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Cöte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Liberia.
Orange and GIZ project teams are currently working closely together and with the various stakeholders and the business ecosystem in each country to help foster digital inclusion and reduce unemployment among young people.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42 billion euros in 2019 and 143,000 employees worldwide at 30 September 2020, including 83,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 257 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2020, including 212 million mobile customers and 21 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its new “Engage 2025” strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and Al at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.
About GIZ
The GIZ is a federal enterprise operating worldwide. It supports the German government in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education. GIZ helps people and societies to shape their own future and improve their living conditions.
www.giz.de/en
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has set up the develoPPP.de programme to foster private sector participation to the point where business opportunities and development policy initiatives overlap. To this end, BMZ offers financial and technical support to companies that want to do business or have already started operating in developing and emerging countries. GIZ acts as one of the two official partners implementing the programme on behalf of BMZ.
www.developpp.de
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