Orange, the largest telecommunications firm in the whole of France has hinted on the possibility of it making an entrance into the Nigerian and South African markets. The CEO, Stephane Richards, made this known, adding that the proposed entry might happen in a couple of months to come and not years.
Currently, Orange telecommunications is present in 18 Middle East and African countries, and these countries have been its fastest-growing market. The company has established a prominent presence in most Francophone African countries, but largely absent in the anglophone countries.
The presence enjoyed by the company in anglophone countries in Africa includes its e-commerce investments in South Africa, B2B services like cloud and security services, and its investment in Jumia. Also, in 2017, Orange telecoms tried to purchase a 65% stake in Etisalat (Now 9mobile) Nigeria. However, Bloomberg announced early this year that the telecoms giant is considering an IPO (Initial Public Offering) of its businesses in the middle east and Africa. This suggests that the company is most likely planning to double down on it presence in those regions.
If this is the case, the telecommunications business competition might get fiercer, and this might bring a lot of positive to the delivery and price of data and communications in Nigeria and South Africa
