Orange plugs 5G into Africa

Orange Botswana has become the first Orange affiliate in Africa to launch 5G commercially.

The news follows the opening of the country’s first Orange Digital Centre which according to the telco will help “bridge the digital divide” and steer young people towards digital career pathways.

Initially the network will be available in greater Gaborone and Francistown, spreading across 30% of the population. New healthcare, education and security services are just some of the advances that 5G will enable.

“The benefits and potential impact of this are promising,” said Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.

“It will help promote Africa’s digital inclusion, resulting in socio-economic growth and job creation. It is also ensuring Africa’s skills development on digital management tools and is in line with the ambitions of the African Union.”

According to Orange, the government of Botswana has been attempting to transform the country into a “knowledge-based” economy for some time. It recently spoke on its ambition to leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which describes the current period of rapid technological growth.

“It begins here and now, in Botswana,” Henique said, and the telco added that the touch down of 5G in Africa will go some way to foster this ambition.

5G provides ultra-high speed and low latency which Orange said will ramp up new and disruptive services such as e-health, connected vehicles, connected cities and augmented reality offering new possibilities and innovation for businesses.

Nene Maiga, CEO of Orange Botswana, added that 5G is an “incredible opportunity” for businesses and the government alike. “It is going to change how customers experience connectivity.”

After launching the 5G services in Botswana, Orange Middle East and Africa intends to spearhead 4IR in MEA countries by offering the latest and most advanced technologies.

One hurdle the telco may face is that some regulation boards in other countries have still not officially initiated the 5G licenses attribution process, however Orange is set to join forces with several regulatory bodies to help build a 5G deployment roadmap.

The telco giant has also been making big leaps in other areas of technology recently with the announcement of its fist metaverse store in Spain.