Orange Middle East and Africa and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have signed a partnership to sustainably strengthen access to digital services in eight African countries on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum.
The goal is to develop a more inclusive and sustainable digital connectivity in underserved areas of West and Central Africa. This unprecedented partnership aims to leverage the complementary expertise of the two organisations.
The IFC will contribute its development financing expertise, while Orange will capitalise on its local presence and the strength of its network in the region.
This collaboration builds on initiatives already supported by IFC, such as backing the first-ever securitisation operation in the telecommunications sector in West Africa and providing sustainable financing to Sonatel.
These two operations, totaling approximately $75 million in 2024, have enabled Sonatel to strengthen the country's digital infrastructure and expand 4G coverage and fiber optic connectivity in rural areas of Senegal.
Together, the two partners aim to provide a replicable investment model to reduce the digital divide, promote financial inclusion, strengthen territorial resilience, and create jobs, particularly in the digital economy.
As a result of this, according to the press release, “various telecom infrastructure construction and deployment projects (towers, fiber, etc.) will be carried out in the targeted countries over the coming years”.
Orange has been exploring a strategy for it's over 34,000 towers across 17 MEA markets for some time. However, various factors have prevented or delayed any real divestment of assets. Orange's 'Lead the Future' strategy in 2023 saw continued commitment to operating their mobile infrastructure.
However, more recent announcements such as the formation of a joint-venture rural towerco in the DRC with Vodacom show Orange is making moves to carve out new entities. Whether this means the operator would engage in another sale leaseback is unclear, as Orange has not widely embraced independent towercos at scale.
Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, said that “this partnership with IFC is a major step in accelerating our ambition to reduce the digital gap by offering quality, sustainable, and accessible connectivity to as many people as possible, especially in rural or underserved areas. By combining our strengths, we aim to build a more equitable digital future for everyone in Africa,”.
Ethiopis Tafara, IFC Vice President for Africa, added “increasing access to digital connectivity in Africa is a key priority to foster innovation, expand financial inclusion, and create jobs. Strengthening our partnership with Orange Middle East and Africa demonstrates our commitment to positioning digital technology as a strategic lever for sustainable economic transformation, benefiting individuals and businesses”.
