Empowering women & girls: Orange Foundation inaugurates Women Digital Center in Okola.

The digital centre, aimed at empowering women and girls through digital technology, was inauguration on Monday, March 16, 2026.

It was inaugurated by the Divisional Officer, DO, of Okola, Aboubakar Moussa. Officials of Orange Cameroun led by its Director of Institutional Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Freddy Oyono, attended the event. 

The inclusive space, born out of a partnership with the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family, is intended to help women break free from dependency and achieve greater social integration through the opportunities offered by digital tools.

In his address, the Orange Cameroun Director of Institutional Affairs and CSR, Freddy Oyono, noted that the center is the 23rd Women Digital Center the company is launching in Cameroon.

While reaffirming the company’s commitment to promoting the empowerment of women and girls through digital technology, Oyono emphasised the importance of collaboration with women’s association and the central role women play in the company's digital development strategy. 

“What we are confirming today is Orange Cameroon and its Foundation's commitment to empowering strong women who, through their resilience, have turned life's obstacles and hardships into fuel to move forward,” Oyono began.

He continued that: “Once labelled as vulnerable, unqualified and unemployed, they have shown us their determination to excel, and we have responded positively”. 

The Orange official said Women Digital Centers are true springboards to economic independence wherever they are set up. 

“For some women, this programme provides basic computer skills that lead to paid employment. For others, it serves as a lever to develop income generating activities, create micro-enterprises and make a lasting contribution to the wellbeing of their families,” he affirmed.  

Administrator hails initiative

Cutting the inaugural ribbon of the Okola Women Digital Center, the Divisional Officer expressed delight that the initiative is a source of inspiration and motivation for the women and girls in the area. 

“Due recognition must be given to the joint efforts of Orange Foundation Cameroon and the Mvog Namnyen Onandoua Sud Women's Association, who have made significant investments to bring Okola into this far-reaching programme,” Moussa said. 

The civil authority asserted that the centre is a precious asset that should serve current and future generations.  

Enter women association leader 

The inaugurated centre is a milestone for the women in Okola, united within the Mvog Namnye Onandoua Sud women's association, who have embraced the digital transformation in order to play a more active role in the economic development of their area. 

According to the President of the women’s association who doubles as President of the Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon, FEDEC, Virginie Edoa, the Women Digital Center and the technology it brings, is of paramount importance. She said the facility is key to interest groups such as the women's associations who will have nothing to envy their counterparts in other areas. 

“It is the concrete expression of an effective public-private partnership, serving local communities. Each partner contributes their best in a spirit of complementarity, in pursuit of a shared goal to support Cameroonian women in precarious situations so that they become self-sufficient and agents of their own development,” the women leader said. 

She added that the centre will be a hub for exchange across different fields.

“This is all the more valuable because our country today needs to build everyone's capacities through education and training, so as to harness the wonders of digital technology and open a window onto the world,” Edoa emphasised.

Digital centre, an inclusive tool

Launched by Orange Foundation, the Women Digital Centers programme is deployed in partnership with the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family through its Women and Family Promotion Centres, CPFF. 

The programme is designed as an inclusive tool with the active participation of local women's associations, who are the primary beneficiaries of the initiative. 

Throuugh the centre in Okola, it was said that the thousands of women will have access to the courses offered, built around modules aimed at promoting the economic inclusion of Cameroonian women and introducing those who need it to computing tools and familiarising them with digital technologies and basic software. 

Upon completing their training, it is expected that the women participants in the Orange Women Digital Center will be fully conversant with office productivity tools, ICT, financial management software and applications.

Just like the graduates of the 22 previous Women Digital Centers, they will be equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to launch or grow income-generating activities. 

Functioning of Centre 

The Orange Women Digital Center in Okola, is housed within the premises of Women's Craft House. It will be open to the women's associations and networks enrolled in the programme with the Women's Craft House to serve as supervisory role focused on monitoring and evaluating outcomes.

Each association will receive a grant to organise train-the-trainer sessions, with the primary mission of delivering basic financial management training to women and girls engaged in income-generating activities.

The support structures will ensure that tools and training are genuinely put into practice by participants, and will monitor the on-the-ground implementation of training content and the development of beneficiaries' projects. 

Orange Foundation's efforts

Orange Foundation's efforts, primarily driven by the desire to bridge the digital divide, confirm that particular emphasis is placed on a gender approach grounded in the recognition of gender parity. 

In the fight against exclusion and for the inclusion of women and young girls in particular, the programmes delivered here give special priority to training as a pathway to empowerment, by facilitating access to modules and tools that open the doors to digital-based grassroots entrepreneurship.

This has been the mission of the Women Digital Centers programme, initiated by Orange Cameroun Foundation since 2015.

The article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3739 of Monday March 23, 2026