To further its goal of becoming a leading telecom operator throughout its African markets, Orange is increasing its efforts. The company is significantly investing in new technologies and prioritizing stronger customer relationships.

Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) deployed more than 10,000 employees across its 17 markets on Tuesday, April 15, in a widespread local customer service initiative. The operation, dubbed “My Customer, My Boss,” saw staff from all departments engaging directly with 15,000 customers in 120 towns and villages.

OMEA presented the effort as a significant step in the company’s management culture, inspired by a successful program in Sierra Leone. The initiative aims to empower every employee, regardless of their role, to contribute to customer satisfaction.

Brelotte Ba, Deputy CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, underscored the importance of the initiative, stating, “Customer experience is everyone’s business. Every employee, without exception, is committed to meeting our customers’ expectations with excellence. With My Customer, My Boss, we are demonstrating that our commitment to service is collective, concrete, and forward-looking by organizing, for the first time on a continental scale, a collective mobilization of this magnitude.”

To streamline data collection during the outreach, Gofiled, a startup from the Orange Digital Center in Tunisia, developed a mobile application. OMEA highlighted this collaboration as an example of its commitment to integrating local innovation, social impact, and economic performance. The data gathered from individual customers, businesses, Orange Money users, and partners will be analyzed and used to drive concrete actions identified during internal hackathons in each country. These efforts are geared towards developing solutions that enhance the customer experience.

The focus on service quality and customer experience comes as competition in Africa’s telecom market has intensified over the past three decades. With telecom operators now closely matched in areas such as network coverage, new technologies, service offerings, and pricing, customer sentiment has become a critical factor in customer retention.

According to an analytical note from the international strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company, customer experience is currently “the key differentiator for creating value in telecommunications. Our research shows that 73% of senior telecom executives consider it a top priority.”

OMEA stated that this large-scale mobilization of staff for local customer service missions “is set to become an annual event. It is part of a continuous improvement approach to customer experience, aimed at assessing satisfaction, understanding expectations, and continuing to improve the services offered to them.”