The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Orange Corners have launched a new concept ‘La Caravane Orange Corners’ at Orange Corners Morocco in collaboration with our new partner Bidaya which was presented during an official launch event on February 12th, 2021.
This new ‘moving’ variation of the Orange Corners programe will take place in a different city or region in Morocco with every 6-month cycle. In addition to that, each programme cycle will address a different theme or sector that is specific to the region in which the programme takes place. The main themes are Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Digital and Creative Industry.
The incubation programme will be implemented by Bidaya, a Moroccan Social Green Tech incubator. Established in Casablanca since 2015, Bidaya has supported more than 60 startups with a high social or environmental impact and demonstrates proven expertise in sourcing, supporting, and reinforcing projects in 6 Moroccan regions, with a notable track record on incubation and community building.
The programme targets young aspiring Moroccan entrepreneurs with innovative and sustainable business concepts which contribute to local communities in specific Moroccan regions. As in all other Orange Corners programmes, this programme provides aspiring Moroccan young entrepreneurs with a modern working space, where they get the opportunity to collaborate and work with like-minded individuals from the region.
In 2019-2020, a pilot of the Orange Corners Morocco took place in Rabat. With this new variation of the programme, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Rabat aims to contribute to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Morocco, which provides economic opportunities, skills and economic empowerment for the youth in different regions.
Entrepreneurship can be an excellent tool to tackle both socio-economic challenges and youth unemployment. By supporting young, aspiring Moroccan entrepreneurs in different regions, the youth can be enabled to have a great and sustainable impact on the (economic) development of the country by targeting regionally specific needs.
During the launch the new cohort of Moroccan entrepreneurs were digitally present, as well as members of the Dutch Embassy who were physically present during the official signing: Jeroen Roodenburg, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Luc Schillings, Head of Economic Affairs, EKN and Adil Raitab, Senior Policy Officer on Entrepreneurship.
Tijmen Rooseboom, Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also digitally present and gave an empowering speech in light of the event.
We are very excited to embark on this new path with all partners and we wish all participating entrepreneurs the best of luck!
Watch Tijmen’s video message below and check out the posts on our social media!
