Orange unveils the First Space to Test and Discover 5G in Côte d’Ivoire Orange 5G Lab Abidjan offers services and support to economic players devised with expert partners such as Huawei, Nokia or ZTE ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, September 20, 2022/APO Group/ -- Orange (www.Orange.com) Côte d’Ivoire has opened its Orange 5G Lab, devoted to digital professionals, start-ups and businesses. This event took place on Tuesday, September 20 at the Deux Plateaux Smart Store (Cocody, Abidjan). It was attended by Mr. Amadou Coulibaly, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Government Spokesperson, Ms. Christel Heydemann, CEO of the Orange Group, Mr. Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, and Mr. Mamadou Bamba, CEO of Orange Côte d’Ivoire. The 5G network roll-out across Côte d’Ivoire is scheduled for 2023, so Orange Côte d’Ivoire is thinking ahead by providing local businesses with a new collaborative space that is fully equipped and dedicated to practical applications. Orange 5G Lab Abidjan offers services and support to economic players devised with expert partners such as Huawei, Nokia or ZTE. The free and customized Orange 5G Lab system is built around two concepts :  This site will host a 5G demo space for different business sectors, conferences, training, co-working sessions, co-innovation and practical 5G application sessions. “We recognize that 5G is a new opportunity for businesses eager to diversify, optimize or revitalize their activity. To support them, it is crucial that this space offers ready-to-use tools and allows the results of these experiments to be assessed in a practical fashion. This initiative reflects our historic commitment to digital inclusion. We aim to foster innovation and help create value within the local ecosystem,” confirms Mamadou Bamba, CEO of Orange Côte d’Ivoire. Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) explains: “Like the Orange Digital Center opened last year, the Orange 5G Lab will allow faster adoption of this technology by local businesses. They will not only be able to benefit from the expertise and tools available here, in Abidjan, but they will also have access to feedback from more than 1,500 businesses and local authorities that have had access to an Orange 5G Lab worldwide – including 127 that have already been able to set up testing based around their own practical examples.” For Christel Heydemann, CEO of the Orange Group: “As a leader in the telecommunications sector and a key player in technology innovation, the Orange Group welcomes this new Orange 5G Lab in West Africa. It confirms our local influence and commitment to encouraging digital uses requiring high-speed internet, notably for start-ups and businesses. Orange has already opened 15 Orange 5G Labs, including 2 in Africa, and it will continue to drive this initiative throughout the Group's footprint.” Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Orange.Orange press contacts: Mediaroom Orange CI: https://www.Orange.CI/media-room/ OCI: Aboubakar Kamagaté; aboubakar.kamagate@orange.com +225 07 08 08 38 81 OMEA: Khadija Komara khadija.komara@orange.com +33 6 76 45 96 18 Group: Ibtissame Nafii ibtissame.nafii@orange.com; + 33 6 37 38 60 50 About Orange Côte d’Ivoire: The Orange Côte d’Ivoire Group is a regional cluster comprising the Orange Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Liberia subsidiaries. As leaders in each of these markets, we have over 26 million customers and contribute up to 25% of the Orange Group’s sales in the Middle East & Africa region. Orange CI has driven innovation in the Côte d’Ivoire telecoms sector for over 10 years: the first operator to launch high-speed internet networks (3G, 4G, Fiber), the Mobile Money service, mobile-based TV services, and access to electricity in remote areas thanks to the Orange Energy offer. In Côte d’Ivoire, with over 15 million customers, Orange CI is a leader in the main performance indicators in the Landline, Mobile, Internet and Mobile Money sectors, both for the General Public and Business markets. As a digital operator committed and convinced of the crucial role played by digital in our country’s development, we are firmly committed to the development and promotion of digital in Côte d’Ivoire with 11% of national GDP. We are also a major social partner in the country through the Orange Côte d’Ivoire Foundation and the Orange Digital Center.  As the leading employer in the telecoms sector, people and gender equality are central to our approach. Thanks to the quality and dedication of over 1,500 men and women, our performance has allowed Orange CI to obtain “Top Employer” certifications 8 times running since 2014 for the excellence of its working conditions offered to employees and “ISO 9001” by AFAQ-AFNOR for its Quality Management System.  Visit our sites: www.orange.ci / www.Business.Orange.CI About Orange: Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42.5 billion euros in 2021 and 137,000 employees worldwide as at June 30, 2022, including 76,000 employees in France. The Group had a total customer base of 282 million customers worldwide as at June 30, 2022, including 236 million mobile customers and 24 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its "Engage 2025" strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group aims to be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN). For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.Orange.com, www.Orange-Business.com and the Orange News app, or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr. Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.