Orange Mali

Stock performance

History

Orange Mali was launched in 2003 under the name Ikatel, as Mali's second mobile operator, by Senegal's Sonatel, itself part of France's Orange group. It took the Orange brand in 2006 and grew rapidly to become the country's leading telecom company, introducing 4G service in 2020.

Business model

Orange Mali sells mobile voice and data, fixed broadband, and enterprise services, and its Orange Money mobile-money platform has become one of its most important businesses, used for transfers, bill payments, and salary payments across a country where few people have bank accounts. Sonatel owns about 70% of the company, with the Malian state among the minority shareholders.

Market position

Orange Mali is the largest telecom operator in Mali by subscribers and revenue, ahead of the historical operator Sotelma (Moov Africa Malitel).

Country impact

Orange Money has brought basic financial services to millions of Malians, especially in rural areas, and Orange Mali is one of the country's largest taxpayers. Insecurity in the north and center of the country has made maintaining network coverage there difficult and costly.