Orange announces rural electrification programme

French telecoms provider Orange has announced a programme to provide solar power paid for by its mobile money scheme, which will pilot in three West African countries from November. Orange said the programme aimed to help individual customers or communities generate electricity where no traditional electricity grids are available. The project will be piloted in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon from November 2016. Orange is providing solar kits or microgrids to rural communities to generate electricity.