Africa is currently home to a burgeoning innovative youth population, increasingly looking for support in their entrepreneurship. Orange, which believes in the social impact of technology companies, is more than ever committed to supporting them through various actions.

 iRole!, Kamioun, Biomass4GLC, LifeBlood, and Abana are the winners of the international phase of the twelfth edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize 2022 in Africa and the Middle East (POESAM). The winners were unveiled, today, October 26 in Kigali, Rwanda, on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress Africa, which takes place from October 25 to 27, 2022.

The International Women's Prize went to the Jordanian start-up iRole!, which wins  €20,000 for its digital platform that connects women looking for remote work with organizations looking for workers.   

The International Grand Prize was won by Sierra Leonean start-up LifeBlood, which won a check of €25,000 for its digital health platform designed to solve the acute shortage of blood products in the country's healthcare delivery system.

The second prize of €15,000 was won by the Malian start-up Biomass4GLC, which specializes in the production and distribution of cooking biogas through the leasing of connected devices.

Finally, the third prize of €10,000 went to the Tunisian company Kamioun, which offers an e-commerce platform that helps retailers easily source products in Tunisia.

For the second time in 12 years, POESAM awarded a special jury prize to a start-up that stands out for its impact. The prize went to Abana, a digital marketplace from the Democratic Republic of Congo dedicated to clothing designers and buyers, which won the sum of €10,000.

During the award ceremony presided over by Elizabeth Tchoungui (photo), MD of Orange Foundation, and Brelotte Ba, Executive Vice President of Orange Middle East & Africa, it was revealed that nearly 1,400 applications were received from the 17 countries that took part in this year’s edition of the POESAM. 

From 2011, when POESAM was launched, to date, Orange has spent over €600,000 to support more than 30 winners and facilitate access to its experts and partners for more than 90 entrepreneurs.