Orange S.A, one of the world’s foremost telecommunications and digital service provider for multinational companies, led by Christel Heydemann, has inked a landmark three-year strategic partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) Group, positioning the telecom giant as the key digital technology partner for international development projects across 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East, plus Moldova and France’s overseas departments.

Signed at VivaTech 2025 by Heydemann, AFD CEO Rémy Rioux, and Proparco CEO Françoise Lombard, the agreement aims to scale up digital inclusion, environmental transition, and responsible innovation — with a strong focus on infrastructure, training, and access to essential e-services.

“This strategic partnership marks a new milestone in our shared vision for a more inclusive, sustainable digital future,” said Heydemann. “We’re committed to ensuring digital access wherever Orange operates.”

Operating under the Orange Business brand, key focus areas include expanding access to digital infrastructure, promoting financial and energy inclusion, boosting e-health and e-education, and developing responsible artificial intelligence.

The agreement formalizes years of collaboration, including broadband deployment in Jordan and Senegal, and digital training programs via Orange Digital Centers in countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia. These efforts will now expand into joint ventures across strategic infrastructure, ethical data use, and AI for development.

Targeted areas include building backbones and submarine cables for rural broadband access, advancing fintech, edtech, agtech, and e-health services, deploying training and integration programs for youth and women and fostering responsible innovation ecosystems through Orange Digital Centers. Proparco, AFD’s private-sector arm, will help mobilize capital and expertise to scale these efforts.

Under Heydemann, Orange has grown its role as a multi-service operator and regional digital transformer. The company has launched 16 Orange Digital Centers and 32 satellite clubs across its footprint, with a mission to build local capacity and accelerate digital entrepreneurship.

“This partnership is about scaling what works,” said Rioux. “Digital is a driver of change in sectors from education to public health — and we want solutions that serve the people first.”

Lombard added: “By combining our networks, we’re unlocking access and impact at scale.”

The alliance places Orange at the center of a new era of inclusive connectivity — one that treats digital infrastructure not just as technology, but as a public good.

Orange, the French telecom giant, has deepened its two-decade-long collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD) Group by becoming its strategic partner for digital technology across Africa, the Middle East, and beyond.

Orange’s network of 16 Digital Centers and 32 university-affiliated clubs serves as a vital springboard for young talent and entrepreneurs across the region. In 2024, the ecosystem supported Guépard—a Tunisian startup incubated at an Orange Digital Center—in expanding to Marseille, backed by risingSUD, which helped 14 African firms establish a presence in southern France.

Despite a 1.3 percent revenue decline in fiscal 2024 to €40.3 billion ($46.35 billion), Orange reported a 0.6 percent year-over-year increase in Q1 2025, with revenue reaching €9.9 billion ($11.39 billion).

The partnership also strengthens operational links between Orange, Proparco, and AFD to scale support for early-stage innovation, expand professional digital training, and foster ethical, secure data use in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

By combining Orange’s on-the-ground infrastructure and expertise with AFD’s public-private development model, both entities are positioning themselves as pivotal actors in bridging the digital divide and scaling responsible tech across emerging markets.