Orange Africa - Afrikan Heroes

Orange Digital Centers and Digital Africa Partner to Fund African Startups

June 20, 2023

During the first day of the VivaTech exhibition in Paris, Jérôme Hénique, the CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East (OMEA), and Isadora Bigourdan, the CEO of Digital Africa, signed a strategic partnership agreement. The primary objective of this agreement is to leverage the expertise and resources of Orange Digital Centers and Digital Africa to promote and strengthen the growth of African startups.

Under this partnership, the two organizations will collaborate to identify and select promising tech startups across the continent. The selected startups will gain access to a variety of resources, including mentoring programs, technical assistance, funding opportunities, and networking prospects through the Orange Digital Center and the Digital Africa community.

Recognizing that “digital talent is the key to transforming the African continent,” Isadora Bigourdan expressed her support for the partnership with Orange Digital Centers, emphasizing its alignment with their deployment strategy. This strategy aims to identify promising entrepreneurs at the local level and facilitate their access to support tools, financing, and advocacy through an international network of allies.

Jérôme Hénique echoed this sentiment, stating that “this collaboration with Digital Africa […] adds an essential component to our current network of Orange Digital Centers, simplifying access to flexible financing solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of early-stage entrepreneurs. This collaboration represents real added value and will contribute to stimulating the growth of the African startup ecosystem.”

Orange Digital Center (ODC) is an ecosystem present in 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as 8 countries in Europe. Its purpose is to support, train, and mentor young people and innovators, enhancing their employability and preparing them for future jobs in areas such as AI and cybersecurity. Additionally, ODC aims to encourage individuals to venture into the digital field.

Each Orange Digital Center offers a range of free programs available to everyone in a single location. These programs include digital training for youth, startup acceleration, project support, and investment in startups.

The collaboration with Digital Africa, an organization focused on enhancing the capacity of African entrepreneurs to design and scale digital innovations for the real economy, aligns with several recommendations proposed in 2022 by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. These recommendations aim to enable African startups to raise over $90 billion by 2030 and position Africa as a technology powerhouse.

The recommendations put forward by the Tony Blair Institute include developing innovative financing mechanisms, unlocking capital from institutional investors and companies, strengthening the capabilities of startups and support organizations, and establishing a “pan-African startup network.”

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Fintech Startup Wave Puts Orange Money’s Business Model In Cote D’Ivoire Under Threat. Here’s How

October 21, 2021

Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa

“Mobile money” stores abound in the dusty alleyways of Abidjan, the official capital of the West African country of Cote D’Ivoire. The colorful flags and posters that adorn their storefronts, promoting payment apps from telecom carriers like as Orange Money, MTN Money, and Moov Money, can be seen from afar. In recent months, a newcomer, Wave, has joined the ranks of telco advertising signs.

Wave is not only displaying its wares, but it is also doing the unthinkable: dividing the commission it receives on sales by three. This appears to be devastating for competitors such as Orange Money, which has been in business for thirteen years. Orange’s mobile payment business has evolved into a key component of the company’s African success.

Wave first launched presence in Senegal in the summer of 2020, then in Côte d’Ivoire this year.

On average, telecom companies in Cote D’Ivoire charge roughly 3% commission on “mobile money” transactions, with commission rates as high as 10% on small-dollar withdrawals. Wave approximately halves these rates by three by allowing totally free withdrawals and a single 1% fee on transfers.

This isn’t the first time someone has attempted to sabotage the “mobile money” market. However, the risk posed by the New York startup has become more than credible after obtaining $200 million in September from numerous firms, including Partech and Sequoia Heritage.

“Their strategy makes free what made 80% of our income, and it is unavoidably brutal,” Alioune Ndiaye, the CEO of Orange Africa, admitted in response to a question from the company’s employees. “We must act quickly and decisively. Our economic model must be altered. We don’t have an option any more. The model of charging customers for cash withdrawals is certain to fail. As a result, we’ll have to adjust our prices. In Senegal, Orange has already decided to unite with Wave, while it has recently decided to do so in Ivory Coast.

The Price War Is An Earthquake For Orange

The company’s mobile payment system, which was launched in 2008 and is based on the Kenyan M-Pesa, has become a cornerstone of the company’s African operations. Last year, Orange Money generated more than 500 million euros in revenue, accounting for roughly 10% of total revenue in the region, with a profit margin comparable to that of telecoms. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where banking rates are still low, demand for these dematerialized payment options, which are available to anyone with a smartphone, is growing. To the point where, by 2025, Orange expects to have doubled its revenue from it.

“The goal of generating 1 billion euros in revenue from mobile financial services by 2025 is unstoppable,” Stéphane Richard, the group’s CEO said. “Until now, the rise has been constant, averaging 25 to 50 percent per year. With the addition of new players like Wave, things will become more challenging, but we have resources. In Africa, we founded Orange Bank, which will serve as a hub for our mobile financial activities.”

SÉNÉGAL – TRANSFERT D'ARGENT:WAVE attaqué en justice par les agents des multi-services – PORCEPIK — *Source: Wave*

Already Yielding To Wave’s Challenge

In response to the fierce price competition, Orange in Cote d’Ivoire has set its mobile money withdrawal fee at 1% of all transactions. The decision took effect from Wednesday, October 20, 202.

Orange Money has 50 million customers, compared to approximately 130 million for the company’s mobile phone services. The management of Orange Africa is hoping that increased transaction volume will more than compensate for the rate cut.

MTN MoMo Côte d’Ivoire has recently also announced a 1 percent reduction in MoMo transfer costs.

Wave Orange Cote d’ivoire Wave Orange Cote d’ivoire

Senegal-based Fintech Startup, Wave, Becomes Africa’s Latest Unicorn After A $200m Investment

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Orange Launches Season 2 of “Y’Africa”,to Showcase African Culture.

April 2, 2021

Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East

“Y’ Africa” TV show plans to assemble the best of Africa‘s talents in arts such as painters, photographers, sculptors, choreographers, stylists and musicians – African culture is packed with young talent from a wide range of disciplines. “Y’Africa”, a contraction of “Africa Ya lelo” or “Africa today” in Lingala, is a TV series which puts emerging artists in the spotlight.

Each episode presents a portrait of three artists who tell their story through their work, while acting as a guide to the cities where they live.

Developed by Orange the program aims to offer African culture, in all its forms, an opportunity to shine and to strengthen the local presence of the Orange brand in Africa.

Season 1 highlighted the diversity of African talent

Launched on February 6, season 1 of “Y’Africa” revealed the journeys of thirty-nine artists from ten different countries through thirteen episodes (each twenty-six minutes long). The documentary series was broadcast in 2020 on television channels in fifteen African countries.

The influencer [1] campaign carried out by Totem Experience, and a team of thirty-four, generated over 13 million post and story views with an exceptional level of engagement – three times the average.

The enthusiasm generated by “Y’Africa” on television and on the web led us to decline the first season in two original spin-offs this spring. Short portraits of the thirty-nine artists will be available on the Orange YouTube channel .

The thirteen television episodes will be adapted into a podcast which will be available on all the usual platforms.

The positive feedback, in the form of audience engagement on social networks and the enthusiasm of African TV channels, encouraged Orange to go again with a second season.

Season 2 of “Y’Africa” will be made up of eight new episodes (each twenty-six minutes long) presenting twenty-four artists from eight different countries: Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.

The executive producer will once again be Fame Productions, and it will be directed by Dan Assayag. The concept remains the same: a dive into the journey of each artist who, through their portrait, also acts a guide to their city.

It is due to be broadcast in the same fifteen countries from fall 2021. Season 2 of “Y’Africa” will also receive a special broadcast on the Orange YouTube Channel. Additional exclusive content (long sequences, making-of, podcasts, etc.) will also be available online.

Highlighting the importance of the launch of the Season Two, Béatrice Mandine expressed her delight with the success of the first season of Y’Africa which drew a wide audience to these artist portraits and generated plenty of attention on social networks. Mandine, who is the Executive Director of Communications, Engagement and Brand at Orange Africa added that “this original concept proved its value through the quality of its content, a wide choice of artists and the emotions it inspired in viewers. Building on the very positive feedback we received, we are pressing ahead and are starting shooting for season 2.”

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Speaking on the development, Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East said that the ‘”first season of Y’Africawas a great success. This audiovisual program showcases the richness of cultures and the creativity of African youth. The season 2 will enable us to discover new talented artists, I am looking forward to listening their testimonies”.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry