Orange partners with Ericsson to drive financial inclusion in Africa

Under this partnership, Orange will deploy Ericsson's Mobile Financial Services solution - Ericsson Wallet Platform - across fourteen of the countries in the region where Orange Money is available, starting with Senegal. The solution will provide a more agile and compliant IT architecture to enhance performance in managing the flow of transactions.

Ericsson said on Monday it has been selected by Orange MEA as a strategic partner for its pan-African Orange Money service to drive financial inclusion and economic development across fourteen African countries.

The Swedish vendor will strengthen Orange's core mobile money platform which provides financial services through a flexible and simple mobile phone interface. Launched in 2008, the service is now available to more than 60 million subscribers in seventeen countries across Africa and the Middle East.

"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," said Fadi Pharaon, President Ericsson Middle East and Africa.

Under this partnership, Orange will deploy Ericsson's Mobile Financial Services solution - Ericsson Wallet Platform - across fourteen of the countries in the region where Orange Money is available, starting with Senegal. The solution will provide a more agile and compliant IT architecture to enhance performance in managing the flow of transactions.

Combining high-performance telco-grade and high secure financial-grade capabilities into one platform, Ericsson's mobile wallet platform ensures that service providers give a simple, functional, and relevant digital experience to their customers.

Commenting on the partnership, Alioune Ndiaye, Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, said, "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."