Investment

Orange boosts digital inclusion and job support commitments in Africa

Orange boosts digital inclusion and job support commitments in Africa

At the recent Africa Forward Summit pan-African operator Orange announced what it calls a major acceleration of its commitments to youth employability, entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, connectivity and inclusive artificial intelligence across the African continent.

Specifically, Orange announced at the event, held in Nairobi on 11 and 12 of May and hosted by Kenya and France, that by 2030 it aims to have trained more than three million young people in the technologies and jobs of tomorrow – particularly in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud, and digital entrepreneurship through free, certified programmes.

To support this ambition, Orange says it will expand its Orange Digital Centres network from 50 to 100 centres, building on the existing footprint across Africa and the Middle East and leveraging partnerships with 167 universities, leading global learning platforms such as Coursera, and local innovation ecosystems.

The Group also announced its ambition to support more than 500 new startups by 2030 across strategic sectors including healthcare, agriculture, fintech, education, and e-commerce, building on the support already provided to more than 400 startups to date.

In addition the company reaffirmed its commitment to continued investments in long-distance terrestrial networks and submarine cables and announced that it will double its solar-powered sites to reach 60% of its footprint.

The acceleration of its artificial intelligence strategy in Africa will involve the development of local language AI models integrated into its super app Max it with the ambition of making artificial intelligence more inclusive and accessible to African populations and languages.

Orange also thanked its longstanding partners — including the World Bank Group, BMZ, the European Union, and AFD — for their continued collaboration and commitment to advancing youth employability and digital inclusion in Africa, while reaffirming its openness to expanding this coalition of partners to accelerate impact across the continent.

Orange already has a strong presence in Africa where it operates in 18 countries, serving 180 million people with mobile, broadband, and digital financial services. Through Orange Money it hosts 47 million active users, while its super app 'Max it' (see photo above) boasts 23 million active users.



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