Travellers to and from South Africa will be able to buy Orange Sim cards for the firm’s mobile networks in France and Botswana, thanks to a deal the telco has struck with Nashua Mobile.

Orange’s deal with independent cellular service provider Nashua Mobile -- which also sells offerings such as Vodacom and MTN mobile packages in South Africa -- enables Orange to set up a brand and sales presence in Nashua Mobile’s stores.

Nashua Mobile stores in which Orange is expected to have this presence includes Sandton City in Johannesburg, Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria and two stores in Cape Town: these being in the Canal Walk and the Icon Centre shopping complexes.

Orange Sim cards for other countries, apart from Botswana and France, could be added later, according to reports.

As of 31 December 2012, Orange reported it had over 230 million customers worldwide. Meanwhile, 80 million of these customers are in Africa and the Middle East, the firm has said.

Orange, however, does not have a mobile operator’s license in South Africa.

But the French firm’s move to team-up with Nashua Mobile follow an announcement by Orange earlier this year in which it launched a content portal and online e-commerce store.

Earlier this year, Orange also said it could establish a virtual mobile network operator (MVNO) in South Africa, if the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) implemented the ‘necessary regulatory framework’ to support it.