Winners of the 14th annual Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) were announced at an international ceremony held at the Royal Mansour in Casablanca, Morocco on 12 November. The awards recognise startups whose technological solutions have a positive social impact in Africa and the Middle East.
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Since 2011, OSVP has been at the centre of Orange's strategy to contribute to the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the inclusive growth of the countries where the Group operates in Africa and the Middle East. Most of the proposed solutions address issues critical to community development, such as education, health, agriculture, the environment, and e-commerce.
Of the 1,600 entries from 17 countries, five were selected as winners across three categories: the International Grand Prize, which recognises the top three technology-based projects with a social or environmental impact; the International Women's Prize - awarded to a startup whose high-impact project is led by a woman; and the Coup de Cœur prize - awarded to a project that stands out for its originality.
International Grand Prize winners:
- 1st prize of €25,000: Savey (Morocco) - Savey is a digital and logistics solution to combat food waste. It is a real-time gateway between unsold inventory from manufacturers, big box stores, corner stores and consumer demand.
- 2nd prize of €15,000: WeFix (Tunisia) - WeFix offers a digital solution to help individuals and businesses sustainably manage their electronics and appliances from start to finish.
- 3rd prize of €10,000: Cocoa Shield (Côte d'Ivoire) - Cocoa Shield provides a solution that combines artificial intelligence with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to monitor and track cocoa crops and combat the diseases that affect them.
Special prize winners:
- €20,000 International Women's Prize: MyTindy (Morocco) - MyTindy is an online platform that connects artisans with customers around the world, enabling them to sell their products directly and autonomously.
- €10,000 Coup de Cœur prize: Intella (Egypt) - Intella offers a solution that bridges the gap between global advances in artificial intelligence and the Arabic-speaking world through one of the world's most accurate multi-dialect Arabic speech-to-text transcription engines.
Since the programme's inception, nearly 15,000 applications have been received and more than 500 entrepreneurs have been supported and rewarded, including about a hundred internationally.
With a focus on high-impact, sustainable innovation, the 14th edition highlighted the growing contribution of women to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East. OSVP winners in the 17 countries will receive support from Orange Digital Centers in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, with hopes of taking their business beyond the borders of their respective countries.
