After the deployment of its electrification program in rural areas, in DR Congo and Madagascar, Orange is strengthening its ambition to become a key player in the energy transition in Africa. The multinational has launched this Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, a solar offer in Burkina Faso, a step before then tackle Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.
Half of the 1.2 billion African population does not have access to electricity and the energy supply of the continent is equivalent to that of a country like Spain with its 44 million inhabitants, recalled the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara at the opening of the forum on March 26th.
“The electricity sector is an important axis of diversification of Orange’s strategic plan in Africa, where the challenges of access to energy are considerable,” the group said in a statement.
The offer of Orange Energie comes in the form of a kit including a solar panel, a battery and accessories (LED bulbs, kit to recharge several phones, radio and / or television), the material is provided by partners selected by Orange for the quality of their products and their ability to meet a massive demand.
These solar kits that “allow to illuminate the whole house, to recharge the cell phones of the home, or to operate a radio or even a television” are deemed “robust” and benefit from the Orange warranty which also takes “fully in charge the installation, maintenance and repair, with the assistance of technical partners.
Different subscription formulas are proposed “to adapt to the rhythm of people’s lives”: weekly, monthly or quarterly subscription. In DR Congo, for example, monthly subscriptions, paid via Orange Money, start from $ 15, or just over 7,000 FCFA.
“The next step will see the massive deployment of the Orange Energy service in the Orange countries, and the marketing of several hundred thousand kits in the next five years, particularly through the extension of the partnership already established in the Democratic Republic of Congo with BBOXX, “says the company.
