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Orange Opens Orange Digital Centre in Tunisia

April 26, 2019

By Maurice Nagle, Web Editor

In 2014, Facebook (News - Alert) founder Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed the possibility of ubiquitous internet connectivity explaining "Almost 90 percent of the world's population already lives within range of an existing cellular network… For everyone in those areas, we don't need to build completely new kinds of infrastructure to help them connect. We just need to show why it's valuable and make it affordable."




This week, Orange (News - Alert) announced the launch of the Orange Digital Centre in Tunis, which is poised to support innovation all around in Tunisia.

The first Orange Digital Centre for Africa and the Middle East is officially open for “business”, ready to give start-ups the boost they need to get off the ground.

The center offers four programs. The coding school provides free access to training, specifically targeting youth with events driving a strong developer community. The FabLab Solidaire delivers a digital production workshop to leverage digital equipment to create prototypes and further flesh out projects, and support cooperation among youth. Orange Fab is a startup accelerator, to aid in expanding the Orange Group’s partnerships and extend the international Orange Fab network. The fourth prong of programming is Orange Digital Ventures Africa, a 50-million euro investment funds to support startups in the Middle East and Africa.

Orange has been a busy bee, bringing together 27 universities in Tunisia, and five centres in the region, more than capable of offering the access to the network and technologies necessary to drive success through providing underserved regions with overdue attention.     

Alioune Ndiaye, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East and Africa, noted, “I am very proud to launch the first Orange Digital Centre in Tunis. By the end of this year, we will set-up similar centres in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. From 2020 onwards, Morocco, Egypt and the rest of the countries in the Middle East and Africa region will have their own Orange Digital Centre. Dedicated to our countries’ digital development, these new spaces aim to consolidate Orange’s standing as a key player in the digital transformation of the countries where we operate.”

Orange already possesses a strong international presence, and now is lending a much deserved hand. It seems Zuckerberg should be pleased with the progress taking place.




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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