Orange opens Orange Digital Center in Botswana to foster digital skills and innovation

Orange has officially opened an Orange Digital Center in Botswana, a one stop place entirely dedicated to the development of digital skills and innovation, attended by the highest political and administrative authorities from Botswana, members of Orange Botswana board and Board members of Orange Middle East and Africa.

Following the footsteps of Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Mali, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan, Madagascar, Morocco, and Liberia, it is in Botswana that this 12th Orange Digital Center is inaugurated.

Spread over 390 sq. m, it brings together four strategic programs of the Orange group, namely, a coding school, a solidarity FabLab – one of the Orange Foundation’s digital manufacturing workshops, and an Orange Fab start-up accelerator, supported by Orange Ventures Middle East and Africa, the investment fund of Orange Group.

All the programs are provided free-of charge and open to everyone. They range from digital training for young people, 90% of which are practical, guidance for project bearers, start-up acceleration, and investment in these.

Working as a network, the Orange Digital Centers allow experiences and expertise to be shared between countries and offer a simple and inclusive approach to improve young people’s employability, encourage innovative entrepreneurship and promote the local digital ecosystem.

Officially opened today, the Orange Digital Center in Botswana is completely operational and is fully functional to host several digital training and events. In addition, Orange Botswana, in partnership with universities, will train students for free and roll out Orange Digital Center Clubs, extensions of the Orange Digital Center within some universities in the regions. Thus, it will complement the education system to give as many people as possible access to new technologies and support them in using these technologies to their full extent. The programme is also built to advance gender equality and inclusion by promoting access for women and girls to ICT jobs.

Nene MAIGA, CEO of Orange Botswana says: “At Orange Botswana, we are committed to digital equality. We recognize this means bold actions and big investment to change the current narrative and status quo. That is why we have made the commitment to leverage the Orange Digital Center to meet Botswana’s needs, to buttress existing efforts to address the pressing challenges of economic inequality which is often perpetuated by a lack of digital inclusion. The onus is on us all to wield positive progress, and our resolve as Orange Botswana is firm. We can and will help promote sustainable progress for all.”