If it works, why mess with it?

Is French telecoms firm Orange resting on its laurels in Africa?

By Quentin Velluet

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Posted on August 13, 2021 23:31

People are pictured at a bank of the French mobile operator Orange in Abidjan, Ivory Coast © People are pictured at a bank of the French mobile operator Orange in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 18 September 2020.  REUTERS/Macline Hien
People are pictured at a bank of the French mobile operator Orange in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 18 September 2020. REUTERS/Macline Hien

Like a long-distance runner who believes that they are far ahead and deserve a breather at the end of the race, it seems that Orange Africa & Middle East (OAME) has decided that it will take time to savour its achievements over the next two years.

While presenting its figures for mid-2021, the operator – which recorded a turnover of more than €3bn over the period, in a region that now accounts for 13% of its revenues – took the opportunity to reaffirm pillars of the strategy it intends to implement in Africa until 2023.

Mobile money, 4G and broadband

These include expanding efforts to develop mobile money by using the sophisticated services provided by Orange Bank; increasing 4G coverage by extending networks and smartphone use; maintaining the wholesale activity (wholesale resale of international cable capacities) that represents 9% of OAME’s turnover; and capitalising on the “competitive advantage” gained in fibre by marketing broadband offers to mostly small and medium-sized businesses in a “limited and targeted” manner, says Jérôme Hénique, OAME’s deputy managing director and operational director.

The same management team had

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