Orange launches Max it app in Middle East and Africa

Max it will be available to anyone regardless of their operator, and will debut in Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Botswana before being extended to 12 other countries in the region in the coming months.

It is designed to allow users to manage mobile and fixed line accounts, is tied with Orange Money’s financial services, and has an e-commerce platform which offers digital content and a digital ticketing service allowing customers to buy tickets for gigs and the like. As well as Orange services, digital services from local and international partnerships will also be included.

Orange expects to have around 45 million active Max it users by 2025, and claims it has particular potential ‘in a part of the world where the smartphone is the gateway to everyday digital life.’

“Max it perfectly reflects the Orange’s spirit of innovation in Africa and the Middle East,” said Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange. “By bringing together all our services and those of numerous partners, this application strengthens our position as a multi-service operator and our desire to offer the best of digital services to all our customers.”

Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa added: “With Max it, the Orange Middle East and Africa teams have done a remarkable job of co-creating with all stakeholders (employees, customers, partners, distributors, etc.), to provide them with a one-stop-shop that is simple, effective, customizable and inclusive. Now, with Max it, everyone can meet their different needs, such as managing their phone plan, finances or shopping. It’s an open, scalable platform that opens up many development opportunities for the continent and strengthens our approach to inclusion.”

It sounds like a similar push to BT’s recent consumer app launch EE ID, positioned as something like a hub around which customers organise their online lives. It also is not constrained to serving an existing customer base, and seems to be looking to attract customers from other network to sign up as well.

In an era where operators are vocal about struggling to make big returns on selling pure connectivity, we can probably expect to see more examples of this diversification in the future.