Orange Digital Ventures, the corporate venture fund of the Orange Group, will commit EUR50 million to a new Africa section in its flagship programme for investment in start-ups.
According to the company, the new Orange Digital Ventures Africa programme will look at projects in Africa in areas such as new connectivity, fintech, the Internet of things, energy and e-health.
"The objective is to target start-ups offering responses to Africa's fundamental challenges while leveraging the operator's assets on the continent. This support will concern all innovative start-ups, whether they are based geographically in Africa or they address African issues from another continent," says the company.
A dedicated team based in Dakar, Senegal, will be set up September 2018 for the programme, to respond to the start-ups' needs for responsiveness and simplicity.
Pierre Louette, deputy CEO of Orange and chairman of Orange Digital Ventures, comments: "Since the beginning of Orange Digital Ventures, the new services and business models in Africa have been one of the priority investment themes of our corporate venture business. With this announcement, we are engaging a bit further alongside the African digital ecosystem, which like everywhere else and maybe even more than elsewhere carries with it a development challenge."
According to the second annual Disrupt Africa Tech Startups Funding Report, released in January 2017, the number of tech start-ups that secured funding in Africa increased by 16.8% in 2016 compared to the previous year.
Earlier this year, the World Bank Group, through its newly launched XL Africa programme, said it would help 20 selected digital start-ups attract early stage capital between $250 000 and $1.5 million.
Orange says the new services and business models in Africa have been one of the priority investment themes of its corporate venture business. "This new initiative underlines Orange's commitment in Africa, a growth territory where currently nearly one of every 10 inhabitants is an Orange customer, and its determination to always be a cutting-edge player in digital ecosystems."
It supports Orange's existing open innovation initiatives in Africa, such as the Orange Fabs in C^ote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Senegal and BIG in Jordan to facilitate partnerships with the start-ups; the network of partner incubators such as CTIC in Dakar; the availability of Orange APIs on the continent; and the Orange Social Venture Prize recognising social entrepreneurs in Africa.
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