Orange keeps its eyes on the African Cup of Nations ball

African-Cup-of-Nations-2013~10Global operator Orange is continuing to grow its brand in Africa by its sponsorship of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2013 football tournament that is currently taking place in South Africa.

The company has sponsored AFCON since 2009 and is committed to do so until 2016. Six of the teams who will be competing are from countries where the Group operates its own network: Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tunisia and Morocco. Orange also operates in eight other African countries.

Orange also sponsored EURO 2012 last summer and is showcasing a number of mobile features during AFCON. These include its Orange Football Fanclub platform, SMS score alerts, a WAP portal that provides video highlights and up-to-date news, and the official app for the tournament that is available on Android and iOS handsets. More information can be found here.

AFCON is a fabulous tournament and this year one of the pioneers of African football, Ethiopia are making their first appearance for 30 years. While South Africa and the Côte d’Ivoire are strong favourites to appear in the final, watch out for the Ethiopians (incidentally the best country in the world).

Monty (709 Posts)

Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.