Menu

Orange, the French telecoms giant, has launched the Entrepreneur Club, an online platform that provides information and a collection of services for startups in Africa and the Middle East.

According to a statement by the telecoms company on Wednesday, some entrepreneurs need support in various areas including hosting, coaching, financing and in addressing a number of challenges that startups in Africa and the Middle East face.

Orange, which is a leading provider of IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, is offering a number of business-to-business (B2B) services in the Entrepreneur Club that would help startups in the region.  

These services include Imagine with Orange, a crowd innovation platform that acts as a springboard for entrepreneurs; Orange Digital Ventures, which is dedicated to providing early-stage investment in startups; Orange Developer that enables developers from enterprise and startups to access Orange self-service application programme interface (APIs) and software development kit (SDKs).

Since 2011, the Orange African Social Venture Prize awards three entrepreneurial projects that improve living conditions on the African continent with the help of technology.

Orange said it is collaborating with entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East who are contributing to their countries’ development to give them access to quality voice and data services. The company said the Entrepreneur Club, which will support small and medium companies in the region, is part of its corporate social responsibility activities.

As of September 30, 2015, Orange had a presence in 28 countries, with a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide, including 200 million mobile customers and 18 million fixed broadband customers.

Orange has been on an acquisition spree in Africa. Last month, Orange acquired Bharti Airtel’s operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone for $900 million as well as Cellcom Telecommunications, the second largest mobile operator in Liberia. This week, Orange signed an agreement to acquire Tigo DRC, the fourth largest mobile operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company has operations in over 20 African countries, including Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Mali, Tunisia, Kenya, Egypt, Botswana, among others.