French telecoms operator Orange
underlined its strategic focus on Africa with a 75 million euros ($80
million) investment Tuesday in the continent’s largest e-commerce
platform Africa Internet Group.
“With this strategic investment, Orange
now has the capacity to play a leading role in the fast-growing
e-commerce market in Africa,” Orange chairman, Stephane Richard said.
Richard indicated the move would “create
value for all parties” while bolstering its ability to market products
and services developed by Orange Middle East & Africa over the
internet.
Orange’s investment comes as part of its
strategic Essentiels2020 plan to develop digital services in Africa and
the Middle East.
Africa Internet Group was created in
2012 as an “African Amazon” with the launch of Nigerian online shipping
site Jumia. The group has 10 e-commerce sites in all, operating in 23
African states.
Axa, Goldman Sachs, MTN Group and Rocket Internet as well as Orange are all capital stakeholders in AIG.
As part of its African ambitions Orange
earlier this year announced a strategic partnership with Google in an
effort to attract more customers as mobile internet use spirals.
Orange also in January purchased
subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone from Indian rival Airtel
to strengthen its position in what for the French group has become a key
region.
By the end of 2015, Orange had 110.2 million mobile phone clients spread across 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
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