Orange strengthens its presence in Africa
Orange has signed agreements designed to strengthen its presence in three West African countries; one with Bharti Airtel International for the acquisition of subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone and one with Cellcom Telecommunications Limited regarding the acquisition of a subsidiary in Liberia.
These mark key stages in Orange’s development strategy in Africa and the Middle East. Nafissatou Dia, Director of External Communications in the MEA region, shares her insight with us in three questions.
What do the acquisitions of Cellcom in Liberia and of subsidiaries of Airtel in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone mean for Orange?
In this era of consolidation in the telecoms sector, this year Orange MEA is set to take on, following approval by the relevant authorities, three new subsidiaries in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. These acquisitions meet a strategic priority for the Group, which wants to make international development a driver with which to accelerate its growth by penetrating high-potential emerging markets. This operation will also allow Orange to strengthen its positions in West Africa, particularly through the addition of around seven million new customers. It will also enable the Group to pursue the development of regional groupings or “clusters”, creating operational and marketing synergies with other countries where Orange is already established.
The development of our presence in this region confirms the dynamism of the Africa and the Middle East region, as well as the tremendous growth potential of our business and our revenue.
What can Orange bring to these new markets?
Orange will bring these new countries its expertise in terms of technical and digital innovation, but also the diversity of its portfolio of offers and its experience and experience in marketing, business and technology.
Orange, ranked the 61st most valuable brand in the world, is a strong brand and is worth USD 17 billion today. It is now well established in the region where most of the subsidiaries are the leader or are close to becoming the leader. In terms of infrastructure, thanks largely to a policy of sustained investment, these new acquisitions will help strengthen synergies and economies of scale to provide over 111 million customers with an “unmatched customer experience”, as promised in the new Essentials2020 strategic plan.
The originality of these operations is that they are operationally led by subregional bridgeheads – Orange Côte d'Ivoire for the new subsidiaries in Liberia and Burkina Faso, and Sonatel for Sierra Leone.
In terms of figures, what does the African market currently represent for Orange?
The first figure to remember is that, with these new acquisitions, Orange MEA expands from 19 to 22 countries, including two new countries which will come under the banner of the Orange brand in 2016. We also expect to sustain our revenue growth. If, for example, we add the two subsidiaries that come from Bharti Airtel (Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone), we estimate additional revenue of EUR 275 million and a customer base increase of about 5.5 million. As for the subsidiary in Liberia, it is currently the market leader and has great potential since the mobile penetration rate is only 66%. This ambitious strategy will hopefully consolidate the great financial and operating results recorded by Orange MEA in recent years and opens up excellent prospects in the coming years for Orange MEA and for the Group as a whole. As we enter 2016, the year ahead looks to be an exciting one, rich in both projects and new challenges in business development and human resources.
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