At this year’s VivaTech conference in Paris, a new gateway quietly opened for African and Middle Eastern startups with eyes on Europe. Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) and risingSUD, the economic development agency of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region in southern France (made up of cities such as Marseille, Avignon, Nice, etc.), signed a three-year strategic partnership aimed at helping African and Middle Eastern startups take root in one of France’s most business-friendly regions.
The agreement, signed by OMEA CEO Jérôme Hénique and risingSUD President Bernard Kleynhoff, extends Orange’s existing Orange Digital Center (ODC) network into new territory — literally. While Orange has long supported digital upskilling, entrepreneurship, and early-stage ventures through its ODC network across 17 African and Middle Eastern countries, this latest move offers its startups a concrete path toward internationalization by establishing a presence in southern France.
“This partnership with risingSUD marks a key step in our ambition to promote African innovation internationally,” Hénique said at the event. “By facilitating their establishment and acceleration in France, particularly in the South region, we are giving young African companies the means to accelerate their growth.”
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Under the partnership, startups that are part of the Orange Digital Center ecosystem will be eligible for hands-on support from risingSUD, including help with incorporation, funding access, and introductions to a network of local and international partners.
The PACA region — home to cities like Marseille, Nice, and Toulon — is already host to over 500,000 businesses, a number that includes both French tech giants and emerging startups working in sectors from AI and mobility to cleantech and fintech. With its strategic geographic location and historical trade links to Africa and the Middle East, the region is positioning itself as a trans-Mediterranean innovation hub.
“Thanks to its strategic position, historical trade flows and commitment to innovation, the South of France is a natural bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East,” said Kleynhoff. “It is now the leading French region for hosting African investment projects.”
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The partnership isn’t just aspirational — it builds on an existing track record. In 2024, risingSUD helped 14 African companies establish operations in southern France. Among them was Guépard, a Tunisian startup born out of the Orange Digital Center in Tunis, which opened an office in Marseille earlier this year.
The collaboration will make it easier for others to follow suit. Startups will benefit from risingSUD’s full range of services, including business development support, market access assistance, and guidance on navigating regulatory requirements — elements that are often dealbreakers for small African firms seeking to go global.
For Orange, this isn’t just a regional initiative — it’s part of a broader vision to globalize the innovation potential of Africa and the Middle East. With ODCs now active in eight European countries as well, the telco is building an increasingly borderless network of startup support infrastructures.
By linking that infrastructure with regional development agencies like risingSUD, Orange is addressing a major bottleneck for startups in the Global South: the leap from regional relevance to international scale.
For founders considering a European expansion strategy, southern France — often overlooked in favor of Paris or Berlin — may now be worth a serious look. Especially if they’re part of Orange’s ecosystem. As Kleynhoff put it, “This partnership opens up new economic opportunities and constitutes a real springboard for the development of businesses on both sides of the Mediterranean.”