Mobile operator Orange has launched the fourth Orange African Social Venture Prize (OASVP) an initiative that promotes social innovation supporting development through ICT.

This fourth edition comes armed with the success of the past three editions with a new category; the "Orange Partner" an award that will recognize the best project that integrates an Orange application.

Entrepreneurs aged 21 and above or a company that has existed for less than three years at the time of the competition, regardless of nationality can enter the awards free of charge. Entrepreneurs who choose to integrate an Orange Application will need to integrate the use of SMS, USSD or Payment APIs (Application Programming Interface) in their projects.

The projects submitted must have plans to deploy their solution in at least one of the African countries where Orange is present and make innovative use of ICT to improve the living conditions of the people in these countries. Applications should be submitted before September 19, 2014 via the Star Africa portal: http://fr.starafrica.com/

Over the past three years, more than 1,500 projects have been submitted for the Orange African Social Venture Prize reflecting the dynamism of African entrepreneurs and the potential of the telecommunications sector. Through the OASVP, Orange affiliates aim to contribute to the development of these markets through the Group's 'Orange for Development' programme and propose innovative solutions that meet the needs of the local population.

In the third edition of the Orange African Social Venture Prize last year, a Kenyan won in the Favorite Project Award category. Kevin Amateshe of Dukalangu, an online shop that offers customers a wide range of products at competitive prices and enables Kenyan entrepreneurs and designers to market and sell their products online, received the highest number of votes as voted by the Public. He received 24, 000 votes out of the 93, 620 cast.

The prize will recognize four projects, three projects with grants of €10,000, €15,000 and €25,000, and a new special prize of €10,000 will be awarded to the finalist who presents a project using an Orange API (Application Programming Interface). An additional amount of €5,000 will be awarded to one of the 3 top winners who uses an Orange API.

The four winners will benefit from a six-month support package from entrepreneurship and ICT experts. The first prize, however, will be offered a patent submission in the country of the project's deployment.