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By Mahlet Fasil @mahletfasil
Addis Ababa, February 26, 2021 – The German Society for International Cooperation (WHITEBOARD) GmbH and the digital center Orange established the first digital center in the horn of Africa that trains young people in digital technology and increases their employability.
The Orange digital center built the third ICT center in Africa and the Middle East region. Ethiopia will host the third orange digital hub in Africa alongside Tunisia and Senegal. Covering an area of 5000m2, it is the first center in East Africa to function as a strategic network, allowing experiences and knowledge to be shared between countries and offering a simple and inclusive approach to enhancing youth skills, fostering innovative entrepreneurship and promote the local digital ecosystem.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Innovation and Technology, Abraham Belay (PhD) said that building the innovation and digital ecosystem is a multi-stakeholder agenda that requires a holistic policy vision, vibrant enabling systems and innovative collaboration and efficient between stakeholders. He admired the participation of Orange and all parties in the initiative. “I must acknowledge and encourage, it is indeed an initiative worth investing in,” he said.
Orange brings several strategic programs under one roof: a coding school, a startup accelerator, and Undertake Africa, the group’s investment fund. All services provided are free, open to all and include digital training for young people, 90% of which are practical training, start-up acceleration, project orientation and investment.
Alioune Ndiaye, Executive Director of Orange Digital Center Middle East and Africa, said: “This program will be complemented by two ODC clubs that will be rapidly rolled out in different regions to reach more young people, further promising that the company plans to launch other Orange digital hubs before the end of the year in Africa and the Middle East.
Sandokan Debebe, CEO of the Industrial Park Development Corporation, for his part, said: “We are excited about the launch of an orange digital hub in the IPDC ICT park.” He added: “The skills to be developed here will be crucial to support the PIDC’s goal of making the ICT park a hub for Africa, a place of technology knowledge transfer, an opportunity for grassroots job creation. IT and a foundation for the country’s progress to become the middle-income economy “
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with a turnover of 42 billion dollars in 2019 and had 143,000 employees as of September 30, 2020, of which 83,000 are in France. The group has a total customer base of 256 million customers worldwide as of September 30, 2020, including 212 million mobile customers and 21 million fixed broadband customers. The group operates in 26 countries.
Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunications services to multinational companies under the Orange Business Service brand.
The GIZ-Orange partnership spans 14 countries: Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Leone and Tunisia. WHAT
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