On the African continent where value-added digital services are getting appealing by the day, telecom operators are adapting their strategies to remain competitive. In that context, Orange is multiplying innovations, in line with its “Lead the Future” vision, to meet subscribers’ needs.  

Earlier today, November 24, Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) announced the launch of Max it, its super app. Currently, the app is available in five African countries, namely Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Botswana. It will be gradually rolled out with functional updates in the twelve other countries that make up Orange’s market in the Middle East-Africa zone.

According to Orange CEO Christel Heydemann, "Max it perfectly reflects Orange’s spirit of innovation in Africa and the Middle East. By bringing together all our services and those of numerous partners, this application strengthens our position as a multi-service operator and our desire to offer the best of digital services to all our customers."

The digital solution aggregates three essential service offerings into a unified smartphone interface. Orange customers can seamlessly manage their mobile or fixed lines, and access a wide range of local and international financial services including money transfers, merchant payments, bank transfers, credit, and savings. Additionally, users can access diverse digital content such as online games, music, TV, videos, news, and more through an inclusive marketplace. The interface even facilitates the purchase of tickets for events like concerts and transportation services.

“Max it is accessible to all, regardless of operator, with Orange Money as the payment base, while accepting other solutions for paying for purchases via the super-app. Available in different languages and integrating local specificities for greater inclusion, Max it will enable the development of new uses while meeting the different needs of its users' daily lives,” Orange indicates in a release.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the mobile phone is the main gateway to the digital world.  With a current smartphone adoption rate of 51%, projected to reach 87% by 2030, Orange is poised to capitalize on this potential by expanding its reach through its app over the next seven years. Aiming to connect with a wider audience, Orange has set a target of registering nearly 45 million active Max it users by 2025, building upon its existing base of 32 million monthly Orange Money users.

Africa has the lowest Internet penetration rate in the world. Authorities are joining forces with various partners to improve these figures, and are also considering collective action to achieve their goal.

The East African Community has decided to invest in the installation of a satellite to provide Internet access to the entire sub-region. The decision was taken at the ministerial meeting of the Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Development Group of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP), held on Wednesday, November 8, and Thursday, November 9 in Nairobi, Kenya.

"The Ministers agreed to fast track the modalities of establishing a Regional Owned Satellite for communication that will provide high-quality, dependable broadband internet services and broadcasting capabilities," reads the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting. 

The collective solution is the most viable since, according to NCIP coordinator Amb Richard Kabonero, “The cost of a satellite is about USD 300m which is very expensive for individual countries but as a region, we can work together."

 The need for Internet connectivity on the continent is constantly growing with the ongoing digital transformation. Traditional Internet service providers are unable to cover all areas, especially rural and landlocked ones, for a variety of reasons. According to DataReportal, the Internet penetration rate in East Africa was 23.1% in January 2023. The sub-region lags behind other parts of the continent, and satellite can be an interesting alternative.

It is worth mentioning that the cost of satellite internet is still high for average Africans. In January 2023, Starlink started deploying its satellite services in African countries. To access Starlink’s services, users need to buy kits that cost around $372 in the cheapest country (Nigeria) and almost $650 in Benin, where the service was launched earlier this month. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum

In line with its digital ambitions, the Nigerian government wants to connect 70% of the population to broadband Internet by 2025. The executive, in collaboration with its partners, is actively implementing measures to accomplish this crucial objective.

Tizeti Network Limited, a solar-based internet service provider, announced on Wednesday, November 1 its plan to connect 15 Nigerian states thanks to long-term funding from the Chapel Hill Denham Nigerian Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIDF).

"Chapel Hill Denham is excited to partner with Tizeti in the expansion of a fast, reliable broadband network across Nigeria. The digital economy is a key strategic pillar for Nigeria to accelerate its economic and social development, and providing access to affordable internet services is crucial to achieving the true potential of digitization," said NIDF CEO Anshul Rai.

The new initiative is in line with NIDF's strategy to fund partners to support the acceleration of digital infrastructure development in Nigeria. The aim is to support the government in its vision of achieving 70% broadband penetration by 2025. For Tizeti Network Limited, the funding supports its expansion objectives in Nigeria, where the company currently serves over 3 million subscribers.

According to Tizeti Network Limited executives, the funding will build the last-mile digital infrastructure that will shift Internet capacity to other Nigerian states and “catalyze sustained development, value creation, improved connectivity, and a deeper and wider digital inclusion net.” As a reminder, in February 2023, the country had 156.9 million Internet subscriptions, according to the regulator. The broadband penetration rate was 48.49%.

Samira Njoya

In the last decade, high-speed internet consumption has grown significantly across Africa.  With Covid-19 bringing about new usages, the demand has further increased. Telecom operators are actively mobilizing to efficiently meet these heightened requirements.

The CEOs of six major telecoms groups operating in Africa - Orange, MTN, Airtel, Vodacom, Axian, and Ethio Telecom - have pledged to develop digital inclusion on the continent. On Tuesday, October 17, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Kigali, Rwanda, they expressed their willingness to continue investing in the local telecoms market during an exchange with Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, host of the MWC and also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Smart Africa.

In a joint statement, Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, Ralph Mupita, CEO of MTN Group, Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, Frehiwot Tamru, CEO of Ethio Telecom, and Hassanein Hiridjee, CEO of Axian Group, said: "Together, we passionately believe in the power of mobile as a catalyst for economic and social inclusion across Africa. We openly invite other African Heads of state to engage with us in the search for solutions focused on deepening digital and financial inclusion on the continent for the benefit of all African citizens."

The telecom groups have already identified potential solutions that can facilitate comprehensive coverage of the continent with a high-quality mobile broadband network, ensuring affordable access to services. But for these solutions to materialize, they stressed the need for African governments to get involved and engage in in-depth collaboration.  

Telecom operators are calling for tax and policy reforms. They believe that by reducing the amount of taxes on different segments (equipment, services, accessories, telephones, etc.), their operating costs will be positively impacted. The resulting reduction in expenditure will strengthen investment capital for the development of telecoms infrastructures across the continent, and support consumption. The same effect should be induced by infrastructure sharing, national roaming, and regulatory policy reform, among others.

Telecom groups are also calling for regulatory support for new models of digital infrastructure financing. The World Bank estimates that $100 billion will be needed to achieve universal connectivity in Africa by 2030. The necessary funds cannot come from telecom companies alone.

Last but not least, climate-friendly infrastructure is an investment that telecom groups are more than willing to make. Given the beneficial impact of solar energy on the operating and maintenance costs of telecom towers and other infrastructures and its contribution to companies' carbon footprints, the CEOs of Orange, MTN, Airtel, Vodacom, Ethio Telecom, and Axian also expressed the need for concerted regulatory policies that promote access to green solutions.

Mobile operators claim to have invested over $70 billion, over the past 10 years, in the construction of mobile infrastructure in Africa. They estimate their annual capital expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa at between $6 and $8 billion, or nearly 20% of their revenues. Although this action today gives nearly 85% of the African population access to mobile broadband connectivity (compared with a global average of 95%), more than 680 million people remain unsubscribed to mobile broadband services either because of the high cost of access, or the inaccessibility of suitable phones.

According to the six groups, the telecoms industry currently contributes 8.1% to the Sub-Saharan region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That's around $170 billion. By 2023, the target is to reach $210 billion by raising the mobile Internet usage rate from the current 33% to 50% by 2030.