Orange Corners Progress Report (copy 03)

Dear partners and friends of Orange Corners, 

We trust you are well and in good health. It has been a while since we have spoken.

The reason I am emailing you is simple, we just wanted to share some updates with you and stay in touch.

Big News!

We are incredibly proud and excited to share the Orange Corners Progress Report with you!

The Progress Report covers the first four years of operation (2016-2020) of the Orange Corners programme, and provides an insight into its impact to date, both locally and globally. Allow me to thank you very much for your valuable contribution!

Do you want to:

• Know the ins and outs of Orange Corners’ holistic approach towards improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem?

• Learn more about Moroccan entrepreneur Fadwa Moussaif and her fashion business IDYR?

• Read what former Ambassador to South Africa Marisa Gerards and Managing Director FrieslandCampina Africa Dustin Woordward and others have to say about Orange Corners?

• And, above all, get an insight into Orange Corners’ impact numbers in the 16 locations we now operate in?

Then seek no further. The answers to the above and more are all in the report, accessible here.

Our future outlook?

In 2019, OC launched complimentary access to finance programme known as the Orange Corners Innovation Fund (OCIF). Soon to be operational in nine OC locations, OCIF actively stimulates innovation and provides early-stage financing to Orange Corners entrepreneurs. Looking ahead, we hope to build upon the positive results stemming from the creation of the OCIF. Furthermore, we wish to enhance a wide array of our Dutch foreign policy themes, such as agriculture, female empowerment, and sustainable and social business models within our programme. Together with you, our partners, we work towards bringing systemic change within the ecosystems in which we are active. Our entrepreneurial journey to support the ecosystems of Africa and the Middle East has only just begun and we are glad you are on board!

We hope you will find it an inspirational and enjoyable read, and look forward to your feedback so we can keep growing and improving ourselves to keep serving today’s and tomorrow generation of change agents as well as the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Africa and the Middle East.

Your participation remains crucial in this mission and we thank you once again for your commitment!

We proudly want to present Orange Corners’ new partnership with IT4Kids & BE Networks.

Many of our incubatees do not have access to suitable IT hardware like computers or tablets. That’s why IT4Kids and BE Networks have joined the Orange Corners family to support our (aspiring) entrepreneurs. IT4Kids is a foundation that collects used IT from companies like you and donates (on behalf of the contributor) the value of the IT to charities that commit themselves to creating opportunities. BE Networks, in turn, takes care of the refurbishment of used IT equipment and gives it a second life, reducing our environmental footprint. Together, they have joined forces to use their IT expertise, network, and innovative fundraising model for the benefit of Orange Corners and to equip our incubatees with hardware. Click here to find out more about this partnership, or click here to hear an inspiring message from the founder of IT4Kids, serial entrepreneur Jordy Kool.

Are you considering renewing your IT hardware? Do you want to help young Orange Corners entrepreneurs?

Do you want to ensure the data on your devices is properly discarded,  then please consider using the services of IT4Kids and BE Networks. This will help us support more entrepreneurs with hardware

When interested, please contact me ([email protected]).

Warm regards on behalf of the entire International Orange Corners family. 

Theodore A. Klouvas

Programme Manager Orange Corners Global