Orange MEA chooses Ericsson to boost African financial presence

In a bid to heighten Orange Money’s offering, Orange Middle East and Africa (MEA) joins forces with Swedish telecom vendor Ericsson to deploy mobile financial service solutions over phases spread across 14 countries in the region by mining into Ericsson Wallet Platform.

Under the deal’s terms, Orange will tap into Ericsson’s Wallet Platform to enhance the management of transactions processes. The joint offering will deliver financial services through a lenient and effortless mobile phone interface.

Ericsson Wallet Platform is a mobile financial services solution based on security technologies and open architecture framework principles. The financial platform delivers the necessary technology, tools, and regulatory supervision required for service providers specialized in distributing mobile financial services to their userbase.

With this deal, Orange Money customers will be provided with the necessary means to store, transfer, and withdraw money and finalize payments to merchants and providers without the need to refer to any banking system.

Ericsson’s wallet platform will be deployed across 14 African countries in Orange’s Money territory, starting with Senegal. This will allow Orange to empower and boost its core mobile money platform as the Swedish vendor will encourage and foster monetary presence and economic growth in the region.

“Stable, secure, reliable, and compliant mobile financial services are fundamental to building the foundations of economic growth for many people in Africa. As we continue to work to support our customers and enhance the services offered to them, we are very pleased to work with Ericsson as their financial services platform is built upon the latest security technologies and open architecture framework principles which can further expand our ecosystem and achieve our vision of financial inclusion in Africa,” Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, Alioune Ndiaye said in a statement.

In 2019, Ericsson sealed a deal for its Wallet Platform solutions with South-African telecom firm MTN Group for 13 countries which exponentially amplified the company’s influence in the region. With the latest pact with Orange, the telecom vendor will have a stronger market position.

“This is a new milestone in our long-standing partnership with Orange Middle East and Africa. With Ericsson’s industry-leading and state-of-the-art Mobile Financial Services Platform, this partnership enables Orange Middle East and Africa to achieve its vision to accelerate financial inclusion in Africa. This anchors Ericsson’s technology leadership position in offering the most advanced and innovative Mobile Financial Services and further contributing to the economic development of Africa,” President of Ericsson Middle East and Africa, Fadi Pharaon said in a statement.

It is worth highlighting that experts believe the reason why Ericsson is aiming to expand its influence in the African region could be a direct result of the U.S.-China tech war since the Swedish company was relatively affected by the ever-growing tension between the East and the West, leaving it torn between two powerhouses.

In its latest quarterly report, Ericsson’s net sales dropped one percent year-on-year. This has led to a plunge in its Q2 sales due to an influential sale decline in the Chinese market, resulting in a $290 million fall, the vendor’s first plunge in almost three years.

So, reaching for a new and potentially diversified market in the African region while exploring different options concerning Ericsson’s allotted services might help the telecom vendor set foot in a new playfield and wait to see where the winds would take it.