Orange Digital Ventures Africa, the Orange investment fund's new initiative for Africa launched last June, has announced its first investment to help Africa's Talking raise US$8.6 million alongside the IFC World Bank and Social Capital.

Based in Nairobi, Africa's Talking provides access to telecom operators' communication and payment APIs (programming interfaces) for developers.

According to information supplied, Africa's Talking has a client base of over 15,000 developers ..."many of which rely on these APIs including SMS, voice and USSD to design services that are revolutionising financial, energy, health and insurance services among others," reads a statement by Orange.

The transaction is subject to the usual conditions precedent, including the approval of Kenya's competent authorities.

Africa's Talking plans to accelerate its internationalisation to support its clients' expansion strategies. Beyond Kenya, the company has started working in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Marc Rennard, Chairman of Orange Digital Ventures, said, "We are delighted that the first beneficiary of our African initiative is a recognised player providing access to operators' APIs. We believe that it is essential to support every initiative that aims to make these APIs more accessible to entrepreneurs in Africa. The expansion of these mobile services is one of the key ways to help generate new innovations that will have an impact on the continent. What is more, this investment strengthens Orange's position as leader in the ongoing mobile revolution. We look forward to seeing Africa's Talking accelerate its pan-African expansion."

Samuel Gikandi, CEO and co-founder of Africa's Talking, said, "This new round of fundraising will enable us to grow our pan-African community of Software Developers building businesses that consume communication and payment services. In this context, the arrival of Orange Digital Ventures is excellent news for Africa's Talking. We intend to leverage this relationship to accelerate our expansion in countries where Orange is present and launch new products that deepen the engagement of Orange with Software Developers."