Revolutionising Africa: how Nicolas Bry and Orange drive innovation

Nicolas Bry, innovation catalyst at Orange Africa, brings nearly 20 years of experience in corporate innovation and intrapreneurship. His work has made Orange a driving force behind the continent's digital revolution. Here is an overview of the initiatives empowering communities and promoting sustainable development, along with the key role that storytelling plays in them.

1. Orange Money: financial inclusion reinvented

Orange Money is a mobile financial service designed for those without banking access: deposits with agents, account management, transfers, payments, savings and loans, all from a phone.

The need is massive: according to the World Bank, 66% of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have a bank account. Orange Money addresses this, with more than 50 million users. Its impact goes beyond the transaction: more control for individuals, faster exchanges for businesses, and more money flowing through the economy. The service had to overcome regulatory compliance country by country and infrastructure limitations, met through partnerships and continuous innovation.

2. The Intrapreneurs Studio: cultivating innovation

At the heart of Orange's culture, the Intrapreneurs Studio encourages internal creativity and turns ideas into businesses, while supporting African entrepreneurs (mentoring, product-market validation, learning by doing). Several start-ups have emerged from it, from IoT agritech to mobile health.

For Nicolas Bry, cultivating entrepreneurial talent and creating an environment conducive to creativity is essential to spurring innovation: giving individuals the power to think like entrepreneurs brings about transformative change.

3. Meeting the continent's challenges

Orange deploys technological solutions on three fronts:

• Agriculture: IoT sensors for real-time data (weather, soil, crops) → better productivity and food security.
• Energy: solar solutions for off-grid communities, lighting homes and powering small businesses.
• Infrastructure: *smart city* projects (urban planning, traffic, safety) and better rural connectivity to reduce the digital divide.

Domino effect: job creation and improved living conditions.

4. Health enhanced by digital

Orange advances access to care through telemedicine platforms and mobile health apps (appointments, remote consultations, medical records), particularly useful in rural areas, and through smart cities creating connected health ecosystems (emergencies, hospital management, care coordination).

5. The power of storytelling

Storytelling connects ideas to human experiences and makes technological advances accessible. It humanises technology and fosters engagement among stakeholders and investors. Two examples: M-Farm (Kenya), which gives farmers market prices by SMS, and Solar Sister (Nigeria), whose story about women solar entrepreneurs resonated worldwide.

"Harnessing the power of storytelling is essential for effective communication about innovation. A compelling narrative highlights the benefits and creates emotional connections with the audience," Nicolas Bry emphasises.

An ecosystem driven by collaboration

Orange's programmes give start-ups access to resources (funding, space, technology), to guidance and mentoring, and to networking. This ecosystem rests on collaboration between businesses, public authorities and civil society, the condition for sustainable economic development: jobs created, social challenges met, creativity encouraged.

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