Orange Botswana celebrates the winners of the 11th Orange Social Venture Prize

From leFt to right: Batshidi Selebogo, Nene Maiga,Lone Mojalemotho, Orange Communication & PR Manager -Ratang Motladiile, and Tshoganetso Tshotlego.

In continued efforts to promote and champion active support for social innovation and entrepreneurship across the board, Orange Botswana through the Orange Foundation held the 11th Edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize, culminating in an awards ceremony on the 20th of October 2021 at Hilton Garden Inn.

The Orange Social Venture Prize platform aims to reward the best innovative and socially responsible business project in Botswana. It rewards innovative projects based on Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the following fields: education, healthcare, agriculture, mobile payments and sustainable development.

This year’s Prize was launched on the 9th of March and called for candidates to submit their application on the website. This year, Orange received 65 applications compared to 95 entries in 2020.

Out of this year’s entries, only three could emerge victorious. The best three not only gained recognition, but also walked away with the prize money allocated winners of the National phase. The winners are:

Agrinect’s , Batshidi Selebogo, who takes home P50,000 in prize money and has been shortlisted into the international top 3

Morui USSD App developer Lone Mojalemotho takes home P30,000 in prize money, and

Mosaditiya Mobile App developer Tshoganetso Tshotlego, takes home P20,000 in prize money

In her remarks, Orange Botswana CEO, Orange Botswana CEO, Ms. Nene Maiga, said , “Ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to be hosting the 11th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize, which still lives up to its commitment of empowering young Batswana through innovation. The ambition

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1. Orange CEO- Nene Maiga giving the key note

2. Orange Legal & Corporate Affairs Director ,Lepata Mafa-Nthomola giving introductory remarks

3. Agrinect’s Batshidi Selebogo who won 1st Prize and took home P50,000.

4. Morui USSD App developer Lone Mojalemotho who won 2nd prize.

5. Tshoganetso Tshotlego of Mosaditiya Mobile App took home the 3rd prize.

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and objective of this global platform for start-up growth and development to the country, remains true and clear. This is an occasion of cardinal significance not only for us at Orange Botswana but also to those whose projects we are here to award today. It is a true display of the commitment that all the candidates have shown towards the competition and further encourages us to strive to give back, and to do more with the resources that are within our means.”

The Orange Social Venture Prize competition takes place in two phases:

National phase - each of the 17 participating Orange businesses across Africa and the Middle East assess the projects submitted in their respective countries, with a view towards selecting 3 winners per country. This means a total of 51 National winners. Agrinect, Morui USSD App and Mosaditiya Mobile App have successfully been named victors in this phase for 2021.

International phase - 51 National winners compete for an International Grand Prize, which is presented to the 3 final winners at the AfricaCom Awards event. The 3 winners will receive 25,000 Euro and 15,000 Euro and 10,000 Euro respectively, as well as six months of customized digital mentoring and advice from Orange experts. These international awards complete the various prizes delivered locally to all winners.

Concluded Ms Maiga, “We encourage all those that are eligible to apply for this great initiative and to recognise this opportunity for what it is: a chance to change the story of your business for the better. It is also an opportunity to truly make your mark and move your business forward, and in doing so, make a difference. It is about, and I cannot emphasis this enough, progress. To this year’s top 3 finalists, congratulations are in order, we commend you for your resilience and hard work. I hope that today stirs inspiration in all of us and that we keep the spirit and passion of progress high even beyond today!”