(Ecofin Agency) - The Middle East and Africa arm of French telecom group Orange has selected Ericsson to enhance its mobile money service in 14 African countries. The Swedish technology company said on Monday, September 20, that it will make its Ericsson Wallet Platform solution available to the telecom company for this purpose.

Alioune Ndiaye, president and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, explained that Ericsson was chosen because its “financial services platform is built on the latest security technologies and open architecture framework principles which can further expand our ecosystem and achieve our vision of financial inclusion in Africa.”

He emphasized that this solution will enable Orange MEA to provide a more agile and compliant IT architecture to improve Orange's transaction flow management performance by strengthening its mobile money platform. It will also help promote financial inclusion and economic development in these countries.

The Orange Money service was launched in 2018 and has rapidly grown with currently more than 60 million subscribers in seventeen countries in Africa and the Middle East. In 2020, the service contributed to more than €62 billion in transactions. The coronavirus pandemic has also boosted activities on the segment. At the end of 2020, Orange MEA reported for Orange Money a revenue of €507 million, up 21% compared to 2019.

With this new deal with Ericsson, Orange MEA is strengthening its footprint in a market segment that is now considered, just like data, as a growth driver by many groups on the continent.

Bharti Airtel and the MTN Group are also multiplying their strategic actions to consolidate their position in several countries.

Muriel Edjo