By Adedapo Adesanya
Top telecommunication service provider in Africa, Orange, in collaboration with NSIA, a leader of bancassurance, has announced the launch of Orange Bank Africa in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to offer clients a range of simple savings and credit services available at all times via mobile phone.
In a statement released on Thursday, Orange said the bank will address the needs of a large part of the population, often excluded from the world of conventional banking, allowing them to borrow and save small amounts that are nonetheless essential for their everyday lives.
The company noted that Orange Bank Africa will be headed by Mr Jean-Louis Menann-Kouamé.
Explaining its service offering, Orange Bank Africa via its Orange Money service will offer a range of savings and microcredit services allowing customers to borrow as little as 5,000 CFA francs instantly using their mobile phone.
This is driven by Orange Bank Africa intentions to become a leader in ensuring financial inclusion in West Africa.
Speaking on this, Orange Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Stéphane Richard, explained that “New technology is needed to strengthen financial inclusion and support economic development, as proven by mobile money over the past few years.
“Banking is a new area of business for Orange in Africa. It falls squarely in line with our strategy as a multi-service operator and our desire to drive the digital transformation forward in Africa.
“Based on our association with NSIA, also a leader on the market in Africa, we provide easy access to bank services for as many people as possible, with simple and essential services that benefit all our clients.”
On the other hand, Mr Jean Kacou Diagou, CEO of NSIA, said: “I am very pleased that the partnership between Orange and NSIA has resulted in the creation of Orange Bank Africa.
“For the past 25 years, NSIA Group has been developing bank and insurance solutions to address the needs of African people and make them available to as many people as possible.
“We know that electronic banking is vital for the financial inclusion of our customers. We are proud to have combined our expertise and human capital with that of Orange to create the fully digital Orange Bank Africa.”
Orange Bank Africa also disclosed that it will be expanding into other French-speaking West African countries such as Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Having played an essential part in financial transactions for several years now, Orange Money and digital services became even more important and more rapidly adopted by users during the coronavirus health crisis.
With this in mind, Orange believes that mobile banking has an important role to play in Africa. It is the very essence of Orange’s purpose of providing everyone with the keys to a responsible digital world.
