The 6th Orange Digital Center in Africa and the Middle East, which is committed to digital development and innovation and aims to teach young people in digital technology and improve their employability, was inaugurated by Orange Cameroon and the German Development Cooperation.
The highest political and administrative authorities from Cameroon, Representatives of Germany and France in Cameroon, GIZ, and members of the board and Orange Group Executive Committee led by Chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard will attend the opening of “Orange Digital Center” in Douala, an ecosystem entirely dedicated to the development of digital skills and innovation.
Following Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, the first Orange Digital Center in Central Africa is inaugurated in Douala, Cameroon. The Orange Digital Center, which spans 600 square meters, brings together the Orange Group’s four strategic programs: a coding school, a FabLab Solidaire – one of the Orange Foundation’s digital manufacturing workshops -, an Orange Fab start-up accelerator, and Orange Ventures Africa, the Orange Group’s investment fund.
All of the programs are completely free and open to the public.
They include 90 percent practical digital training for young people, start-up acceleration, project bearer guidance, and funding.
In the develoPPP initiative, which GIZ is implementing on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Orange and the German Development Cooperation through GIZ are collaborating as part of a development partnership (BMZ).
The goal is to realize their common vision of increasing youth employability – as well as women and girls’ access to ICT jobs – while promoting long-term growth and the country’s digital transformation.
“Orange acts as a responsible corporation across its activities,” says Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange. This sense of accountability is a core value enshrined in the Group’s long-term strategy plan, Engage 2025. By 2025, we want to create an Orange Digital Center in every nation where we operate to promote digital services as a vector for inclusion and to ensure that they are accessible to the broadest possible audience. This goal exemplifies our commitment to harnessing the positive potential of digital innovation.”
“This program contributes to Cameroon’s digital transformation while creating local employment prospects for young people,” says Dr. Corinna Fricke, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Cameroon. Germany is pleased to be able to contribute to such a forward-thinking initiative.”
Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Morocco, and Mali are among the eight Orange Digital Centers that have opened in the region thus far. This suggests that there will be more inaugurations in 2021 and 2022.
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