Telecom giant, Orange has unveiled its star prize winners in the social
venture initiative as the Moroccoan MedTrucks came top, reports ITRealms.
Also, Orange proclaimed Madagascar based Nanoe as second prize winner
while Senegalese MaTontine took the third place.
The chief executive officer, Orange Middle East and Africa (MEA) Bruno
Mettling, said that with nearly 3,500 projects filed since 2011, the Orange
Social Venture prize has grown into a huge success.
“The 750 candidate projects that were submitted in 2016 amply illustrate
this,” he declared.
As said by him, the start-up ecosystem now increasingly recognizes Orange
as an indispensable partner that is able to support their development with 95
per cent of the winning start-ups since the award’s inception are still growing
today.
“I thank them for their confidence," he said.
Details of the winning projects are:
The first prize was
awarded to MedTrucks, Morocco: MedTrucks (http://APO.af/i5uLvA) was created to support patients and
healthcare professionals through the deployment of mobile care units in
“medical deserts” in Morocco and other emerging countries. These
hyper-connected trucks, that are fully equipped for all essential medical needs
and can rely on tele-medicine tools if necessary, aim to fill a blank in these
isolated areas by providing care at the right time and the right place. MedTrucks
is developing a variety of services including real-time cartography and
tracking that will help optimize care service delivery to patients, as well as
a medical online training platform for professionals.
The second prize was
awarded to Nanoé, Madagascar: Nanoé’s (http://APO.af/QH8zjD)
ambition is to deploy a new kind of electrification system, known as “lateral
electrification”, in order to meet the short-term needs of remote populations
that do not have access to the main energy grid. Nanoé seeks to offer rapid,
flexible and affordable access to electricity, while participating in the
construction of a cutting-edge power infrastructure that is low carbon,
decentralized, collaborative and smart. Nanoé’s project also includes a major
training platform designed for future local-level operators.
The third prize was
awarded to Ma Tontine, Senegal: MaTontine (http://APO.af/fFzaNc) seeks to solve the problem of how to
provide financial services, including the provision of small loans, to the
poor. It is based on a traditional, non-digital system, called the Tontine (in
French), that enables the organization of rotating savings and credit schemes
across a small group of people (colleagues, friends, neighbors, etc.). The
innovation is to build a digital platform that automates this whole process and
incorporates a credit-scoring system in order to facilitate small loans and
other financial services such as micro-insurance based on the credit score of
the group members.
The Special Prize for
Cultural Content was awarded to Bulles Magazine, Côte d’Ivoire: Bulles Magazine (http://APO.af/E6lRgX) is a monthly magazine for 6-10-year
old children that promotes African culture. Available in digital and paper
versions, Bulles Magazine will be accessible throughout the Francophone world
and beyond. The originality of this project lies in the fact that Bulles
Magazine will tell children the story of the kings and queens who ruled the
African continent long ago. Each month, children will read about African heroes
of the past but also contemporary heroes such as renowned inventors from
Africa. Designed in a highly colorful and illustrated format, the paper and
digital versions of the magazine will facilitate its distribution across
Francophone countries.
Finally, a “favourite project” was also selected by web users on the Entrepreneur Club(http://EntrepreneurClub.Orange.com/en) portal: Over 80,457 visitors out of a total of 390,000 voted for the Egyptian project FoodoGraphy (http://APO.af/DZ4yIe), a food-waste management platform that facilitates cooperation between food providers - such as hotels, restaurants, conference malls, etc. - and charities. Foodography aims to allow charities to collect surplus food that is still in good condition from these organizations in order to redistribute it to poor people registered with the charity. FoodoGraphy’s website will provide a directory that acts as a reference for charities and enables them to connect with food providers and organize the logistics of redistributing the surplus food.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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