Liberia opens Orange's 11th Digital Center in MEA

Pan-African operator, Orange, has launched its 11th Orange Digital Center in Africa and the Middle East.

The newest edition is in Monrovia, Liberia and aims to train young people in digital technology to help enhance their employability and encourage innovative entrepreneurship in the West African nation.

The launch follows other Orange Digital Centers in Tunisia, Ethiopia, Mali, Senegal, Egypt, Jordan, Madagascar, Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon.

"I am very proud to inaugurate the 11th Orange Digital Center today in Liberia, which is part of a network of 32 Orange Digital Centers that will be deployed not only in Africa and the Middle East, but also in Europe," said Brelotte Ba, deputy CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.

"The objective is to democratize access to digital technology to young people – with or without qualifications – giving them access to the latest technological skills to strengthen their employability and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow," Ba added.

Digital skills for the future

The 715 square meter facility was launched in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation and includes a coding school, a solidarity FabLab – one of the Orange Foundation's digital manufacturing workshops – and an Orange Fab startup accelerator, supported by investment fund Orange Ventures Africa.

All of the programs at the Digital Center are provided free-of charge and open to everyone. They range from practical digital training for young people to guidance for project bearers, start-up acceleration and investment.

Officially inaugurated on Monday, the Orange Digital Center in Liberia has been operational since January 2022 and has already hosted several training sessions and digital events, Orange said.

In addition, Orange Liberia, in partnership with some universities will establish Orange Digital Center Clubs, extensions of the coding school within the universities in the regions.

The program is also working to advance gender equality and inclusion by promoting access for women and girls to ICT jobs.

Through digital technology, the program focuses on a number of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including: (SDG 4) quality education, (SDG 5) gender equality, (SDG 8) decent work and economic growth, (SDG 9) industry, innovation and infrastructure, (SDG 10) reduced inequalities and (SDG 17) partnerships for goals.

Paris-headquartered Orange is present in 18 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has 139 million customers in the region. With $6.4 billion in revenues in 2021, Orange MEA is a major growth area for the group.

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*Top image source: Image by DCStudio on Freepik.

— The Staff, Connecting Africa