FarmConnecta, a Botswana-based startup that developed an information sharing and billing system for the agricultural community, has won the 2015 Orange AMEA Developers Challenge.
The challenge is aimed at stimulating innovation in Africa by offering startups the chance of using Orange’s APIs to enrich their applications with essential functionalities such as texting or billing.
By emerging winner of the competition, FarmConnecta won a prize of €10,000.
Its journey to emerging winner was tough. After scaling the application process, it was among the 10 projects chosen from Botswana. Thereafter, it made it to the finals after being selected by a panel of experts from Orange and the ICT industry.
Nilebot, an Egyptian startup which uses a hardware and software solution for real-time measurements of water quality in aquaculture placed second while CycleM, a DR Congo startup which developed a family planning system for mobiles – through an app or text message, came third.
The challenge, which illustrated the potential of telecoms for regional development in fields as varied as healthcare, agriculture and education, marks the acceleration of Orange’s Open Innovation initiative in Africa and the Middle East.
This has led to the opening up of Orange’s technical platforms, providing support for local developer ecosystems through its Orange Partner program.
Orange, a leading telecommunication operator in Africa, offers access to its Texting, USSD and Billing APIs in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Niger and Senegal.
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