By Henry Kargbo
One of the leading telecommunication companies in the country, Orange Sierra Leone Monday 13 March 2023, officially launched the 5th editions of Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP). The 5th edition is the 13 editions in Africa and the Middle-East to support social innovation and encourage local entrepreneurships.
The ceremony took Place at the Company Headquarters office in Freetown.
Making a statement at unveiling of the 5th edition of OSVP, Head of Public Relation and Cooperate Social Responsibility, Kamal Abass said Orange SL positioned itself as the leading digital platform in the Middle East and Africa.
He said since 2019, the OSVP prize was awarded to innovative projects by start-ups, based on information and communication technology with positive social impacts in Africa and the Middle East, in the fields of education, healthcare, e-commerce and agricultural productivity.
Abass informed journalists that through this prize, Orange SL, as a committed operator, contribute to the socioeconomic development, support local social and environmental innovations, and encourage entrepreneurships in Sierra Leone.
He said competition has two stages; national and international stages, wherein at the first stages winners will collect One Hundred Thousand New Leones (NLe 100,000) and Fifty Thousand New Leones (NLe 50,000) for Woman’s winners and in second stage, which is the international stage, winners will collect NLe25,000 euros for the First position, 15,000 euros for the Second position and 10,000 euros for the Third position, he stated.
He said equal opportunities are key aspects of Orange’s policy, adding that international Women’s Prize will also be awarded for the fourth consecutive year; the prize will be award to woman who offers a technology solution to improve the living conditions of women in job creations.
Abass stated that since the launch of OSVP in 2019, Orange SL remains very proud to have awarded around One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand New Leones (NLe 515,000) in prize money to winners both National and International Women’s competition, adding that OMEA is proud to have also awarded 600,000 euros in prize money to over thirty (30) winners and provided funds and support to more than ninety entrepreneurs.
“Orange OSVP will continue to reaffirm its commitments to entrepreneurs, making positive impacts across Africa and the Middle East”, he said.
Winner of the Fourth Editions of OSVP, Joseph David Koroma of Life Blood said in May 27th, 2022, he submitted his application via Google from OSVP. He explained that he showcased his innovation of Life Blood and he became the winner of Orange OSVP in 2022.
He furthered that as a child he was saved through blood transfusion and as he is growing up as a medical student, he has passion of using technology at Life Blood, expressing firm desires to increase voluntary blood donation in the country. He said according to estimates, Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
David Koroma said using technology at Life Blood; they have recorded over 500 donations with over 1000 on site registrations. Joseph thanked Orange mobile company for showcasing his innovative talents to the world. Other winners of OSVP 2022 made mindful statements.
