Orange, Digital Africa unite to shore up start-ups

Telecom provider Orange has partnered with Digital Africa to promote and strengthen the growth of start-ups on the continent.

As part of this collaboration, the two will work to identify and select promising tech startups across the African continent.

Selected startups will be able to access a range of resources, including mentoring programmes, technical support, funding, and networking opportunities through the Orange Digital Centers (ODC) and the Digital Africa community.

There are ODCs in 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East and eight countries in Europe, that support, train, and guide young people and those with innovative ideas. The centres prepare attendees for the jobs of the future (such as in AI or cybersecurity) or encourage them to become digital entrepreneurs in the priority areas of each country, including environment, agritech, healthtech, and e-commerce.

Digital Africa’s operational approach is based on entrepreneurs’ needs, directly from the field, to develop a set of programmes around strengthening the skills and tools needed to launch a start-up, through access to trained local talent and data.

"We are very excited to launch this collaboration with Digital Africa, as it adds an essential component to our existing Orange Digital Centers network, facilitating access to flexible financing solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of seed-stage entrepreneurs. This collaboration represents real added value and will help stimulate the growth of the African start-up ecosystem,” said Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.

Isadora Bigourdan, CEO of Digital Africa, added: "Digital talent is key to transforming the African continent. This partnership with the Orange Digital Centers aligns with our strategy for identifying promising entrepreneurs locally and helping them to access support, funding, and lobbying tools through an international network of allies.”