Dibakana Mankessi will therefore be the last winner of this prize, rewarded for The psychoanalyst from Brazzaville (2023, Les Lettres Mouchetées editions). An endowment of €10,000 – compared to €15,000 for the Orange Book Prize, a difference to be attributed to exchange costs, probably – which the Foundation will therefore no longer pay, Jeune Afrique tells us.
But the Congolese writer and sociologist is not alone in closing a chapter: Clarisse Crémer and Maud Bénézit hailed by the BD prize (created in 2020 with the CNL and €5,000 endowment) for I’m going but I’m afraid (Editions Delcourt) and Marianne Jaeglé, Orange Book Prize for The Prince’s Friend (Gallimard), will also be the last for the hexagonal section. In short, the Orange foundation is cutting short its involvement in the book sector.
The winner, Marianne Jaeglé, who will take part this October 16 in an online meeting with readers, on the A place to go platform, will certainly not fail to appreciate the irony of fate. We were unable to contact Jean-Christophe Rufin, president of the jury since 2012 – having succeeded Erik Orsenna – to obtain his comments.
This is mainly due to the fact that the promotional planning is committed, and the calendar established. In addition to the rewards, there are promotional requirements, which are part of the contract with respect to both the authors and their publishers.
An established notoriety
For 2023, Orange announced results of around €2.5 billion in turnover, including 11.4% growth on the African continent. The operator is established in 17 countries and is investing €1.25 billion in infrastructure for Africa and the Middle East.
READ – MO3T, it’s over: Orange abandons the bookstore “hub”
Mobile Internet, 5G, money transfer services or optical fiber: the CEO of the subsidiary Jérôme Hénique was rather proud of his results. Especially since the company opened an investment fund targeting start-ups and their projects, Orange Digital Venture (see Tribune Afrique).
In short, the communication job is completed, the Trojan horse which passed through literature would no longer have any reason to exist?
All for music?
So what’s going on at Orange? Some point to the recent arrivals of Caroline Guillaumin, Orange Communications Director since January 2023, responsible for the Foundation, and Hafida Guenfoud, general delegate of the Foundation, appointed in July of the same year. Two personalities who come from Société Générale, respectively HR Director and General Delegate of the SG Foundation.
« They are only interested in music”, we are assured. And since last February, the Dircom has stood out: its strategic changes in terms of sponsorship and patronage, indicated La Lettre.
By settling into the chair of deputy president of the Foundation, she emphasized the links with the Paris National Opera while seeking to cut short the Tour de France, in favor of football or rugby. Reserved areas which previously fell under the remit of French communications…
As for literature…
The poet and cultural advisor to the Ministry of Cultural Industry of Congo, Émeraude Kouka evokes “ reasons still unclear» to justify this sudden deletion. Substantial savings? The amount of funding for these different awards remains “ quite opaque», Estimates a source. But would turn out “important enough to make this brutal decision and put the entire budget on musical sponsorship ».
In fact, the Orange Foundation has been involved for more than 35 years as a patron in this sector in France. The 2023 financial documentation indicates that €24.7 million was invested across 25 countries to “the democratization of culture among all audiences by promoting access to music, books, museums ».
As for the 2023 Annual Report, it underlines: “Because culture is a fantastic tool for breaking down barriers and contributes to social and professional inclusion, the Orange Foundation is also committed to cultural patronage, promoting access to culture for all and detecting and supporting young talents. in music and literature. »
Disappointment, betrayal and refocusing
Within the African jury, ActuaLitté learns, it is a real anger to find themselves faced with a fait accompli – especially since their commitment was voluntary. “The day after the Francophonie summit, this is terrible news», Analyzes an observer. It was in fact in Villers-Cotterêts, this October 4 and 5… “And even more so for African publishers: it was one of the rare international prizes with media resonance. »
Another emphasizes its “great sadness to see these prizes disappear, for Africans and in France for all the publishers and novelists supported for so many years ».
Reevaluate goals
However, the decision is not like a rabbit pulled out of the hat, overnight.“A new management is installed, gets its bearings and overhauls the entire operation: a great classic”someone close to the file tells us.
The cessation of all prices is therefore the result of weeks of reflection, which will lead to a refocusing of programs, around education and culture. Particularly for learning — we imagine that elearning is in the crosshairs. To date, 1,700 establishments in France and Africa benefit from the Digital Schools program, representing some 600,000 students.
The Foundation provides kits with a mini-server of educational content connected to 25 tablets, a laptop PC, a video projector and a Bluetooth speaker. Enough to ensure accessibility to educational resources. The same would go for reading, but neither of these two aspects has yet been decided.
The art and manner…
In the end, we especially note a “serious clumsiness in stopping prices. That a Foundation ceases investments is its strictest right, but in the communication adopted – or the total absence of communication rather – it becomes clear how much the new management has not measured the importance of these prices», Points out an observer.
Did the Dircom, Caroline Guillaumin, consider that the organization was becoming scattered and that it was important to make its actions more understandable? And after all, the historical link between the voice and the Foundation deserved more attention? “The problem comes from the fact that nothing is ready for the future: we would have imagined that the calendar would be rearranged, at least out of respect for the people involved.», concludes our interlocutor.
This then leaves this question around the site Lecteurs.com, a network of readers bringing together some 240,000 subscribers. Primed, defused, relaunched and slowly active, the platform would be on sale, assures Jeune Afrique, for a symbolic €1. A tool with an interesting database, and also serving as a promotional tool for the various winners of literary prizes – and which would now lose part of its functions.
When contacted, the Orange group’s press service has so far not given any sign of life following our requests on these various subjects. The Foundation not having provided any explanations either, the awkwardness becomes “a somewhat easy excuse», annoys an editor.
Illustration : Fondation Orange
