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Orange has launched the Addis Ababa Orange Digital Centre, an ecosystem that is entirely dedicated to digital skills and innovation in Ethiopia.
The company has partnered with GIZ, (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology and the Industrial Parks Development Corporation for the initiative.
Ethiopia is the third African country to have the Orange Digital Centre after Tunisia and Senegal.
Occupying a space of 500m2, it is the first centre in East Africa that will operate as a strategic network, allowing experiences and expertise to be shared between countries and offering a simple and inclusive approach to strengthen the employability of young people, to encourage innovative entrepreneurship and to promote the local digital ecosystem.
Commenting on the launch, Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Middle East & Africa said “I am very proud to launch with all our partners the third Orange Digital Center in Addis-Ababa, which will be part of a network of 32 Orange Digital Centers based across two continents: Africa/Middle East and Europe.
The purpose of Orange Digital Centres is to bring together several strategic programmes under one roof namely a coding school, a “FabLab Solidaire”, a startup accelerator “Orange Fab” and Orange Ventures Africa, the Group’s investment fund.
All of the programmes provided are free-of charge, open to all and include digital training for young people, 90% of which are practical training, start-up acceleration, guidance for project bearers and investment.
Orange and GIZ are working together for the develoPPP.de programme, which GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project is supported by BMZ’s Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation, which also operates under the brand Invest for Jobs.
The know-how of Orange in training and supporting young people in the field of digital skills and innovation will be complemented by GIZ’s extensive experience and local expertise in addressing the challenges inherent in the employability and entrepreneurship of young Ethiopians.
Together with the Ethiopian partners, the GIZ and Orange hope to achieve their shared vision of greater youth employability including more women and girls in ICT jobs while supporting the country’s sustainable growth and digital transformation.
“With the support of GIZ, Orange supports East Africa’s digital ecosystem by providing young Ethiopians with all its technological know-how to create more job opportunities. This program will be complemented by two ODC Clubs that will be deployed swiftly in different regions to reach out to even more young people,” added Ndiaye.
Orange is present in 18 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has 128 million customers as of 31 December 2020. With 5.8 billion euros of revenues in 2020, Orange MEA is the first growth area in the Orange group.
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