On 10^th September 2015, the CEO of the French telecom group Orange, Stéphane Richard (photo) conducted a work visit in Côte d’Ivoire. He met with President Alassane Ouattara. At the end of this meeting, Orange boss revealed that the telecom group will build a head office in Abidjan valued at FCfa 15 billion. The area where this building will be erected has already been selected. A competition for local architects was even launched in this regard.

With Axelle Lemaire, French state secretary in charge of Digital affairs, Stéphane Richard also announced the launch of Orange Collecte, the first mobile crowdfunding platform in Africa via Orange Money.

Orange Collecte will enable individuals and associations to raise funds to finance personal and common projects. For the CEO, quoted by the information website Koaci, the “Orange Collecte service is not a marketing approach, even though it will be used for marketing purposes. It is really the best representation of what digital progress can bring to make our societies more humane and to improve the daily lives of people".

Further to the various projects announced by Orange, the second visit of Stéphane Richard in Côte d'Ivoire after the one in 2011, signals the implementation of the strategic "Essentiels 2020" plan. Pitched as the new vision of the international company, based on the digital revolution, it gives prominence to improving high speed broadband connectivity and the innovative services it enables.