Orange has launched officially in Kinshasa, the 15th Orange Digital Centre, an ecosystem entirely dedicated to the development of digital skills and innovation, in presence of high-level Congolese political and academic authorities, members of Orange DRC Management, members of Orange Middle East and Africa Board and the Orange Group Executive Committee.
Following in the footsteps of Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Madagascar, Morocco, Liberia, Botswana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, it is in Democratic Republic of Congo that the 15th Orange Digital Centre in Africa and the Middle East is inaugurated.
With a floor space spreading over 590 sqm, it brings together four strategic programmes of the Orange group, namely: A coding school, Digital Academy, a solidarity FabLab – a digital manufacturing workshops, an Orange Fab start-up accelerator, as well as the Orange Ventures Middle East and Africa, the investment fund of Orange Group that invests in the most talented startups.
All these programmes are free and open to all. They range from practical digital training for young people, to support for project leaders, to accelerating and investing in start-ups.
Working as a network, the Orange Digital Centres allows experiences and expertise to be shared between countries and offer a simple and inclusive approach to improve young people’s employability, encourage innovative entrepreneurship and promote the local digital ecosystem.
Officially inaugurated, the Orange Digital Centre in Democratic Republic of Congo is already operational to host several digital trainings and events; at this time, more than 1,700 learners have been trained. In addition, Orange DRC, in partnership with universities, will train students for free and roll out Orange Digital Centre Clubs, extensions of the Orange Digital Centre within some universities in the regions.
Thus, it will complete the education system to give as many people as possible access to new technologies and support them in using these technologies to their full extent. The cities selected for these deployments are Kananga, Lubumbashi, and Matadi in the second half of 2023.
Orange is committed to fulfilling its vision, which is to foster youth employability while supporting sustainable growth and the country’s digital transformation agenda. The programme is also built to advance gender equality and inclusion by promoting access for women and girls to ICT jobs.
Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa says: “I am very pleased to be present for the launch of our 15th Orange Digital Centre in Kinshasa, which is part of a network of 25 Orange Digital Centres that will be deployed not only in Africa and the Middle East, but also in Europe by 2023. The objective is to democratise access to digital technology for young people – with or without qualifications. We want them to be part of the digital transformation of their country by encouraging them to become digital entrepreneurs, to create local content and digital services, and thus develop the digital economy of Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Orange is present in 18 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has over 143 million customers at 31 December 2022. With 6.9 billion euros of revenues in 2022, Orange MEA is the first growth area in the Orange group. Orange Money, its flagship mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer is available in 17 countries and has more than 80 million customers. Orange, multi-services operator, key partner of the digital transformation provides its expertise to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.
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