Orange is launching Africa's first mobile crowdfunding platform in Côte d'Ivoire, called Orange Collecte.
With this platform, private individuals and charities can finance their personal (weddings, birthdays, etc.) and charitable projects (fundraising, events, projects, etc.) by making an appeal through their mobile network. The solution is open to all Orange Money customers in Côte d'Ivoire. Contributors will be able to make their donations using their Orange Money electronic wallet.
Developed in partnership with HelloAsso, the Orange Collecte platform aligns Orange with its partner firm’s approach to social innovation. Orange described the program as embodying its “desire to support innovative solutions that meet its customer's basic needs.”
A charity that wants to start a fundraising campaign must have created an Orange Money account dedicated to the charity. Meanwhile, contributors need to choose a campaign, indicate how much they want to pledge and then confirm it. In turn, they can invite their contacts to also take part in the collection.
At the end of the collection, the amount raised is directly transferred to the user's Orange Money account.
Mobile money services have great traction in Sub-Saharan Africa – a region where less than 24% of the population has a bank account, but over 80% have a mobile phone. Orange has seen notable success with Orange Money, with a reported 15 million customers using the service. Across 13 countries, it was used to transfer €4.5 billion in 2013.
The operator claims that the service has seen a year-on-year revenue increase of 76% for the period of April-June last year, although it did not disclose the specific amount.
