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Marc Rennard stresses importance of experimenting with innovative business models.
Marc Rennard, who will soon leave his post as CEO of Orange’s Africa and Middle East business, this week imparted some words of advice to the two colleagues replacing him.
"I have two replacements who are both very experienced," he told Total Telecom at Mobile World Congress on Monday.
In October, Orange announced that Rennard will become deputy CEO in charge of customer experience and mobile financial services for the whole group. Replacing him are Bruno Mettling, who will become deputy CEO in charge of Africa and the Middle East, and Jean-Marc Vignolles, who will become COO for the region.
"They must maintain the creation of enthusiasm," he said. "The growth potential [in Africa and the Middle East] is still there. It is the growth engine of the [Orange] group, and we need to continue this growth."
Orange ended December with 115 million mobile customers in Africa and the Middle East, accounting for 40% of its total mobile customer base, Rennard said. In 2015, revenue in the region grew 5%.
"2015 was a fantastic year," he said.
In July, Orange announced plans to create a new holding company for its Africa and Middle East businesses, a move that Rennard said enabled the telco to be more agile and flexible.
Towards the end of last year, the holding company, called Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA), acquired rival operators in Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and entered Liberia via the acquisition of Cellcom.
"It creates a momentum that is very positive," Rennard said. "More than ever, the target is to become the number one or two operator. If it is not possible to achieve organically, we either buy a competitor or exit."
As well as growing in size, OMEA has also sought to grow in scope, driving the rollout of its Orange Money mobile financial services platform, and working with partners to expand access to the Internet, and even electricity.
This week, Orange partnered with Google to launch a $40-per-month bundle of voice, SMS and data that also comes with a specially-developed 3G Android smartphone, called the Rise 31 Special Edition.
In November, Orange partnered with energy supplier Engie to trial a range of domestic power supply solutions for rural populations that could be marketed and sold by Orange, and also used to power its network.
The trials may cover individual solar power kits and small-scale local electricity networks. The companies will look at the technical aspects of such solutions, as well as sales and distribution models, and economic feasibility, before making them available on a larger scale.
Orange will look at billing for power supply through Orange Money.
The Engie deal "is at the heart of our strategy in terms of diversification," Rennard said.
"Is there a valuable business model? Is there a sustainable business model? I don’t know, but with smartphone proliferation, people need more electricity than they did in the feature-phone era, when batteries would last for days."
It is this appetite for experimentation that Rennard wants his replacements to maintain.
"We need to continue and bring in new innovation," he said.
