Africa, Middle East once again prop up Orange’s revenue growth.

Orange ended 2024 on a strong note, with Africa and the Middle East continuing to drive revenue growth.

The Africa and Middle East division accounted for nearly all of revenue growth, with Q4 earnings surging 12.6% to €2.02 billion. 

According to the results released yesterday, Orange's Africa and Middle East division capitalised on its four main growth engines, namely +18.4% in Mobile data, +19.5% in Fixed broadband, +20.4% for Orange Money and +12.5% in B2B across all activities to register its impressive increases in its anchor market.

Orange Money is particularly popular in many of its 18 African markets, where traditional banking services are less accessible, especially in underserved areas. 

The creation of Max-it, a mobile plan introduced in several African countries to offer affordable high volume of data, voice minutes, and text messages was another revenue earnings game changer across the continent.

Commenting on the results, Christel Heydemann, CEO, Orange group, said: "The Africa and Middle East region once again delivered a robust performance, driven by its growth engines, namely mobile data, fixed broadband, B2B and Orange Money. 

"Orange now has over 160 million mobile customers and almost 40 million Orange Money customers on the continent. Orange's activities are a genuine lever for economic development in these countries – progress from which the group also benefits."

Despite a challenging year in its core markets, the company's success in these emerging regions helped offset declines elsewhere, particularly in France, where revenue dropped by 0.6% to €4.57 billion. 

The rest of Europe also faced a 2.3% decline, bringing in €1.89 billion, and Orange Business saw a 4.1% decrease to just under €2 billion.

Still, Orange successfully met its full-year financial targets, with organic cash flow from telecom activities reaching €3.37 billion, surpassing its guidance of “at least” €3.3 billion. Group EBITDAaL also grew by 2.7%, aligning with expectations of low single-digit growth.

Heydemann highlighted the achievements as a clear demonstration of the success of the company’s “Lead the Future” strategic plan. 

Looking ahead, he said Orange has maintained its 2025 guidance, targeting around 3% EBITDA growth. 

The company has increased its organic cash flow target from telecom activities to at least €3.6 billion, up from the previous €3.5 billion, signaling a positive outlook for the coming years.