Orange Cameroun: 25 years impact in country’s telecoms sector.

This was during a grandiose ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde, on Thursday, March 6, 2025, to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary.

It was chaired by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Likeng. 

The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona, also lived the event that was heavily attended by members of diplomatic corps, senior staff of the company and other stakeholders. 

P&T Minister hails Orange Cameroun 

Speaking during the ceremony, Minister Minette Libom Likeng, congratulated Orange Cameroun on reaching the milestone of a quarter-century of operation in Cameroon. 

The minister indicated that the company has, within its first 25 years in the country, achieved a lot and made improvement in the quality of services in accordance with technological evolution. 

“They have done more than just connecting people; they have been involved in the building of our country, through activities in education, health and social sectors,” she said. 

Following government’s strong resolve on ensuring digital transformation of the country, the minister said more and more Cameroonians are getting connected and requiring better quality services from, especially telecom operators like Orange Cameroun.

“While congratulating Orange Cameroun for the work done for 25 years, we have asked them to do even better so that together, we can achieve digital transformation in Cameroon; as wished by the Head of State,” the member of government noted.

She hammered on the need for a synergy between the private and public sectors for optimum transformation of the sector. 

“We have asked Orange Cameroun to do better in improving the quality of services, and to work hand in hand with government because we cannot develop digital economy just by the public sector. We need to collaborate with the private sector, so at this level, there are a lot of challenges but we need to solve them together,” she stressed. 

Enter Orange Cameroun DG

In his anniversary speech, the Director General of Orange Cameroun, Patrick Benon, expressed gratitude on behalf of the company to its stakeholders, especially its clients, who have trusted the company for the past 25 years. 

“We are here to say thank you to the authorities, government and our clients who have been with us for 25 years now. 25 years is a quarter of century, it is a story we have been through together,” Benon said.

He pointed out that the company has, within these years, deployed as much resources as possible to accompany its consumers. 

Benon said more than 1,300 billion FCFA has been invested to build a network of over 500 sites, covering about 90% of the Cameroonian population.

“Orange and its employees have gone even further to the most remote villages and risk zones for its customers. So, yes, we have done our possible best to give the best to our clients,” he added. 

In spite of these efforts, Benon admitted that much still needs to be done to further ameliorate the quality of service offered to customers. 

“We are engaged to see that the next 25 years should even be better than this. It is a challenge and there are many things that we have to make available to the Cameroonian population to be able to be digitalised,” he affirmed. 

Digital economy crucial for job creation, opportunities

Taking inspiration from the Head of State’s recent address to the youth, the Orange Cameroun DG opined that the digital economy has an avalanche of opportunities to youth.

He saidf it is on this that Orange Cameroun “is here” to provide the needed infrastructure that will enable youth to develop the digital economy to be an avenue for job creation and development of their projects. 

Benon also avowed that besides being a mobile telephone operator, Orange Cameroun is a committed actor in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility. 

He highlighted the development of the Orange Digital Centre in Douala, which he said is supporting the youth in their digital transformation drive as well as the Orange Foundation, which has been very crucial in helping to develop communities across the country.

Achievements galore 25 years on

Prior to the anniversary celebration, Orange Cameroun’s Director of Marketing and Communication, Yves Kom, accompanied by the Director of Operations, François Xavier Bella, and the Director of Institutional Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility, Alain Blaise Batongue, granted a press conference; during which they counted the company’s accomplishments in the different sectors. 

Speaking to the press, Yves Kom expressed warm gratitude to all Orange Cameroun’s loyal customers who have been with them since day one.

As part of the silver jubilee celebration, he announced that the company has in stock lots of special surprises aimed at rewarding the loyalty of its customers and subscribers.

He said for one-hour subscribers who have been on the Orange network for 25 years, an automatic gift of 25 gigabyte and 25,000 FCFA communication credit will be offered. 

The same package, he added, will be offered to its customers born on the day of the official launch of the Orange Cameroun network, which is January 27, 2000.

“All Orange network subscribers will be able to win various prizes by drawing lots; tourist trips to discover the treasures of Cameroon, latest generation smartphones, and prizes of 25 gigabyte and 25,000 units after the purchase of an Orange Bonus package at #111*1#,” he detailed. 

Over 14 million customers

The Marketing and Communication Director revealed that the company, 25 years on, boasts of about 14 million customers who have chosen the network for their everyday electronic communications, making the operator the leader in mobile telecommunications sector in Cameroon.

He added that thanks to its constant efforts to ameliorate its services, over 76.5 million calls are handled on the network daily with a network of more than 3,000 sites deployed to cover over 90% of the country’s territory by 3G/4G network.

The Director of Operations, on his part, hammered on the company’s commitment to connecting cities and people through major investments to improve quality and extend the network throughout the country.

He also said Orange Cameroun can boast of having built a “futuristic headquarters” in Douala, and Orange Digital Centre, which he described as “one of the largest data centres in Central and West Africa”.

Major social investment

The Director of Institutional Affairs assured that Orange Cameroun is committed to satisfying its customers and contributing to the socio-economic development of Cameroon. 

According to him, Orange Cameroun has been involved in “community support, youth development and cultural heritage since its arrival”.

Zoom on social balance sheet 

X-raying the company’s social balance sheet, Batongue said in the area of health and education, some 30 maternity units have been rehabilitated and hundreds of donations have been made, while 32 digital schools have been created and more than a dozen primary schools rehabilitated throughout the country.

Environmentally speaking, he pointed that Orange has co-funded carbon projects that has so far reforested more than 244 hectares of mangroves in Cameroon, with more than 600,000 trees planted with nearly 2 billion FCFA have been invested in solar transition.

“We have ensured more than 3,000 young people are trained, more than 600 professional certifications offered free of charge, over 950 jobs facilitated and nearly 40 start-ups supported,” Batongue added.

He equally enlisted the company’s unending in sporting activities, especially football as it has been sponsor of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon since 2002 and partnered with ANAFOOT for youth football development since 2021.

The domain of promotion of culture has not been neglected as it has regularly supported cultural and traditional festivals in the 10 regions, such as the Ngouon for Bamouns, and Ngondo for Sawas, amongst other festivals.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3388 of Monday March 10, 2025