Pillar 4: Continuing our growth in Africa and the Middle East
A growth driver for the Group for many years, the Africa and Middle East region is at the heart of our strategy. To stay on this trajectory, we’re actively expanding our networks in the region, fast-tracking the evolution of Orange Money, and bolstering our local presence.
In 2023, we saw a remarkable 11.4% increase in our revenue in Africa and the Middle East (MEA), marking a record high in a decade. Development prospects in the region are very promising. With a burgeoning population and a surge in digital usage across African and Middle Eastern countries, capturing this demand hinges on continuing to roll out 3G/4G mobile networks and fixed infrastructure. In 2023, we invested €1.2 billion in the region to support this goal. Currently, we serve one in every nine African telecom customers, and we’re committed to further investments to become the premier digital partner in Africa and the Middle East.
Achieving this objective also depends on the quality of our service offerings in content, energy, e-agriculture, healthcare, BtoB and mobile financial services—including Orange Money and Orange Bank Africa. With Orange Bank Africa, Orange’s mobile bank in Côte d’Ivoire, we go beyond simple money transfers and payments, offering credit and savings services accessible through the Max it super-app with its user-friendly, customizable, and inclusive interface. By the end of 2023, Orange Money had surpassed the milestone of 100 million accounts opened, with transactions totaling over €130 billion. Notably, it saw a return to a growth trajectory with an increase in revenue of over 25% compared to 2022, a significant acceleration for this growth driver of financial inclusion.
Lastly, continuing our growth in Africa and the Middle East relies heavily on a strong regional presence. Our local teams are renowned for their performance and expertise, enabling us to effectively address the region’s challenges. We also leverage our network of Orange Digital Centers. These digital learning centers play a crucial role in tackling the challenges of education and professional integration, while providing support to local startups in their growth journey. This positions us exceptionally well to support the growing digital trends in the region.
Key figures
11.4%
growth in revenue in the MEA¹ zone, totaling €7.2 billion
2022-2025 target: + 7% per year
(1) Middle East and Africa
4 growth engines
25.8%
growth in revenue for Orange Money
+17.7%
for mobile data
+16.7%
for fixed broadband
and across the board
+16.4%
for BtoB.
Simplifying users’ lives with Max it, the three-in-one “super app”
Following the success of the My Orange and Orange Money apps, used by over 22 million customers on a daily basis, our Orange teams in Africa rolled out Max it in November 2023. With a single interface, this super-app merges all telecom functionalities for managing mobile and fixed lines, Orange Money services (money transfer, bank transfers, payments with our partners, credit and savings), as well as a number of e-commerce services, including a digital content offering (games, TV, video, etc.) and even an online ticketing service. A success: in just a few months, the application has been downloaded more than 10 million times.
Accessible independently of the user’s operator, Max it is available in five of our countries (Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Botswana) and is scheduled to be rolled out in our other twelve countries in Africa and the Middle East by 2024.
“With Max it, the Orange Middle East and Africa teams have accomplished a remarkable feat of co-construction with all stakeholders (employees, customers, partners, distributors, etc.), in order to offer them a unique interface that is simple, effective, customizable and inclusive. This open, scalable platform offers numerous development prospects for the continent and further strengthens our inclusive approach.”
Jérôme Hénique
CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa
Read the press release on the launch of Max it
(opens in a new window)Orange Money: a successful user-centric transformation
Launched in 2008 in Côte d’Ivoire, Orange Money, with over 100 million accounts opened including 34.1 million active customers, and transactions totaling over €130 billion by the end of 2023 in Africa and the Middle East and, is a powerful growth driver for our Group, in the MEA region (25.8% growth in revenue for Orange Money compared to 2022).
These results are supported by the rapidly changing Mobile Money market but also the continuing high-quality service we provide to our users and the way we overhauled the Orange Money model in 2023. In addition to its traditional mobile money transfer and payment activities, Orange Money has become a true digital service platform, open to all consumers, Orange customers and non-Orange customers alike, in all countries in which the Group operates.
Find out more about Orange Money in Africa and the Middle East
(opens in a new window)See our financial results in MEA, a high-potential region
(opens in a new window)Orange Digital Centers: nurturing digital talent
The Orange Summer Challenge stands as the flagship event of the Orange Digital Centers (ODC) network. In 2023, for the first time, it took place across 11 countries in Africa and the Middle East. 253 young students had the opportunity to develop innovative technological solutions around the bold and timely theme of “Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things: A Winning Combination to Tackle Tomorrow’s Challenges!” Teams were mentored not only by ODC experts but also by international experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and EY.
Another major event: “Orange Digital Center Champions”. Organized in 15 countries in Africa and the Middle East, the aim of this programming competition is to highlight the technological talent of young developers and encourage teamwork. 1,200 students took part in the national qualifiers across 128 universities.
Finally, Orange Digital Centers also staged a new edition of the Africa Week conference in February 2023, focusing on the jobs of the future: “Future of Work Africa Week”. Over three days, 42 top-level international experts informed young Africans about the jobs of the future, the skills in demand and how to prepare for the future needs of recruiters.
Find out more about the Orange Summer Challenge
(opens in a new window)Find out more about our commitments with Orange Digital Centers
(opens in a new window)Find out more about “Future of Work Africa Week”
(opens in a new window)