As connectivity providers, telecom operators based on the continent have a role to play in digital development.
After Tunisia, Orange has chosen Senegal to host a second Orange Digital Center, and Dakar will be home to this new digital hub.
The first center of its kind in West Africa, the Orange Digital Center in Dakar aims to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship and stimulate the local digital ecosystem. To this end, various programs will be set up: a school dedicated to coding, a Fablab Solidaire, Orange Fab, and Orange Digital Ventures Africa, the Group's investment fund.
Young people and project leaders will thus be able to benefit from a free training space and a platform for support and financing for startups.
"We are working closely with all stakeholders, including governments and the academic world, to strengthen the employability of young Africans and encourage them to undertake and innovate in their countries. Our ambition is to roll out this initiative beyond Africa, from south to north, by opening Orange Digital Centers in France and Europe. For now, Côte d'Ivoire, Jordan, and Cameroon will follow in the coming months, and by 2020, Morocco, Egypt, and then all countries in the Africa and Middle East zone will have their Orange Digital Center. " adds Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and Middle East.
Côte d'Ivoire is also set to welcome a new Orange Digital Center in the near future.