Orange, Apigate partner to strengthen digital application programming interface in Africa, Middle East, Asia

Orange, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, and Apigate, a subsidiary of Axiata Digital have announced a new partnership to strengthen their respective application programming interface (API) hubs in Africa, the Middle East and Asia as part of their mutual ambition to advance global digital transformation.

Through the partnership, announced Monday at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, APIs could be delivered to international and local companies alike, resulting in consolidation of traffic and expansion of reach.

It would see Apigate and Orange’s new hub, Bizao drawing on their respective geographical strengths across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, to deliver a suite of APIs to businesses, while providing a streamlined and efficient method of accessing customers via a single entry point across regions.

APIs provide the impetus for digital revolution and innovation, enabling the delivery of new services such as mobile payment, communication, and identity.

The partnership will see Apigate delivering a digital enablement hub to soon-to-be-launched Bizao, as well as a hub-to-hub connection of the two operators’ API platforms to facilitate a single technical, commercial, and financial integration.

This will enable faster deployment for businesses to distribute and monetise their services. The integrated platform will address multiple operators across each of the operator’s respective footprints in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

“This exciting partnership is emblematic of our vision for digital transformation for the region and how we wish to be partners to businesses from the smallest start-ups to the largest organisations to help them grasp the opportunities that the digital age affords,” said Thomas Chalumeau, chief strategy officer, Middle East and Africa at Orange.

Mohd Khairil Abdullah, chief executive of Axiata Digital, says “This partnership marks an important milestone for the API businesses, where two major telecom operator groups are collaborating to expand their reach across each other’s footprint.”