With a local presence through retail operations in 16 countries and major infrastructure projects deployed, Orange is now a household name in Africa. While this helps our wholesale sales team members get their foot in the door, they are acutely aware of the responsibility they have to live up to this reputation of blending European expertise and African localism.
“African customers know that nobody will be blamed for choosing Orange”Yasser Radwan, VP Sales Africa
Africa is a special region for Orange, with several affiliated operators. How does it help you do business?
This makes the Orange brand quite visible in Africa. It creates lots of business opportunities and makes us benefit from ambitious infrastructure. Orange Wholesale captures the best of two worlds: solid foundations as a French company with reputed credibility and know-how, as well as a deep understanding of human and local business dynamics with our African team members. After all, as the head of the team, I’m an African myself, even though I attached my native Egypt to the Middle East region when I was working in their team!
What are the challenges and opportunities in these African markets?
There are lots of opportunities in Africa, and not only in infrastructure. Another unique aspect is the need for market-relevant innovation. Now we are pushing solutions to offer telecom services on the cloud and there is a lot of traction for these from Africa. They enable our customers to consume services like voice switches on the cloud as simply as an e-mail account, with consumption-based payment plans. Also in Africa, regulations come in different flavors. But regulations can be eased so this represents a challenge and also an opportunity. The same goes for the new competitors. We cooperate with all of them. So they also represent huge opportunities for us. Africa is so big: nobody can do it alone in here. So it’s the best place to get used to the new wholesale market dynamics, which is all about sharing.
Why do African customers choose us?
During the first information technology boom, everybody wanted to work for IBM. They had this tagline at the time: “Nobody was ever fired for choosing IBM”. We have the same image: nobody will be blamed for choosing Orange. We have our flaws of course but nobody can question our value when it comes to confidence in our brand. Nobody will question our reliability or trustworthiness.
“In Africa, customers want to have somebody they know pick up the phone” Andrea El Zein, Account Manager Mobile – Paris, France
In Africa, your customers often want to know you as a person before developing a business relationship; they need to know you in order to trust you and move forward with business discussions. They need this service dimension, and that’s why they choose Orange Wholesale. They want to have somebody they know pick up the phone.
“Many of my customers have placed their trust in us since the France Telecom days”Wu Yin, Account Manager Voice and Mobile West Africa – Paris, France
Several opportunities can be found in supporting African customers to launch ambitious projects which are now hard to find anywhere else in the world, like launching MNOs with the full service suite, including backup services, renegotiation of rates, value added services, 5G deployment, big data analytics... Many of my customers have placed their trust in us since the France Telecom days. They value our expertise and quality of service. My role is about maintaining these good relationships.
“The strength behind the Orange brand is huge” Mervin Chetty, Account Manager Data Eastern Africa – Cape Town, South Africa
The strength behind the brand is huge – and this is a competitive advantage. Even in South Africa, where Orange hasn’t had retail operations, the brand has been known through Orange Business for over 20 years. When the wholesale teams arrived, the brand recognition was instant, across the technology businesses that exist in South Africa, and I am proud of our healthy reputation, which shows up in our daily operations.
“Our robust infrastructure remains a key asset, helping us to maintain a competitive edge” Badr Benkirane, Account Manager Voice and Mobile – Casablanca, Morrocco
To navigate the complexity of Maghreb and West Africa, part of my role involves sharing insights internally about market context, current trends, and competitive positioning, so that I can propose the best rates to our customers. Our robust infrastructure remains a key asset, helping us to maintain a competitive edge in these dynamic and challenging environments.
