The Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East is an annual competition organized by Orange Middle East and Africa. It supports technology-based ventures that address social or environmental needs and have reached at least a prototype or experimental stage.
Applicants enter through a national competition in one of 17 eligible markets. National winners advance to an international selection for the Grand Prize, while eligible women-led projects may also be considered for the International Women’s Prize.
Benefits & funding
- International Grand Prize awards: €25,000 for first place, €15,000 for second place, and €10,000 for third place.
- International Women’s Prize: €20,000.
- Business-development support is offered to the 10 International Grand Prize finalists, including the three winners, and to the International Women’s Prize winner.
- National prizes and support vary by participating Orange subsidiary.
Eligibility
- An applicant may be an individual startup founder who was over 21 when the 2026 contest launched, or a legal entity operating lawfully for less than five years at that date.
- The applicant must have a valid bank account and must not have transferred rights in the submitted project to a third party. Organizer personnel involved in the contest, national and international jurors, and their families are excluded.
- The project must address a territory or market in at least one of these countries: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, or Tunisia.
- The project must use new technologies, create social or environmental impact, and have reached at least a prototype or experimental stage.
- The general Grand Prize route is not restricted by gender. The International Women’s Prize is for a project led by a woman founder or co-founder.
- The application form and project file must be in English or French. No degree, nationality, residency, or work-experience requirement is stated in the 2026 rules.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Appears to be for women “woman founder”
confirm in the requirements
Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.
We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Create an account on the official application platform using a name, email address, and password.
- 2Complete the online participation form and prepare one project PDF of no more than 10 MB. The file must cover the problem, use of technology, market and SWOT analysis, product or service, management team, three-year financial forecast, and expected social or environmental impact.
- 3Submit the form and project file before the cycle deadline and accept both the international and relevant national rules.
- 4Shortlisted projects may be interviewed or invited to pitch during national evaluation. Three national Grand Prize winners per country advance automatically to the international phase; participating countries may also nominate women-led projects for the International Women’s Prize.
- 5International evaluators shortlist 10 Grand Prize finalists and five Women’s Prize finalists before the juries select the winners.
Program timeline
Applications opened.
Mar 26, 2026, 09:30 GMT
Application deadline.
May 10, 2026, 23:59 GMT
National evaluation, interviews or pitches, and jury decisions.
May 18, 2026 to Sep 3, 2026
International evaluation and finalist selection.
Sep 4, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026
International juries select winners and an official awards ceremony is held.
From 2026-10