Orange Middle East and Africa and Tencent RTC join forces to enrich the super-app Max it with innovative mini-apps
Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA), a major telecom player in the Middle East and Africa, announces a strategic partnership with Tencent RTC, the real-time communication business of global technology company Tencent, to enrich the ecosystem and service offering of its super-app Max it for businesses and populations in the region.
At Mobile World Congress (MWC), Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) announced its collaboration with Tencent RTC to adopt Tencent RTC's mobility framework and Mini Program Platform (TCMPP) solution to create an open platform for Max it to integrate a wide range of mini-apps within its super-app. Leveraging its track record of supporting Tencent’s Weixin/WeChat ecosystem, which has over 1.1 billion monthly active Mini Program users, Tencent RTC’s technological expertise will empower OMEA in the field of mini-apps to enrich the Max it ecosystem and improve the customer and partner experience, while strengthening its position in the African market.
By gradually integrating mini-app technology from the second half of 2024 thanks to its Digital Factory, OMEA aims at giving access to its platform to a hundred partners, global and local, and double the adoption of its super-app by 2025. The partnership with Tencent RTC is part of OMEA's vision ("the world at your fingertip") to create with Max it a unique digital ecosystem in Africa, inclusive and accessible to all digital and content players, with the goal of putting the world within reach of its customers.
Furthermore, OMEA commits to supporting African entrepreneurship through this alliance by offering local startups, merchants, content creators, as well as major brands and companies the opportunity to develop mini-applications tailored to the needs of each country. This approach will not only enhance African innovation but also stimulate the local economy by creating new employment opportunities and economic growth.
Bruno Zerbib, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Orange highlighted the technological interest of this partnership by commenting, "The MEA Region is a vibrant place for innovation and we are committed to give the ecosystem the means to develop new services through the best technologies. We chose Tencent RTC for its leadership and scalable technology that allows the creation of mini-apps specific to our markets but also provides access to an existing platform of rich and varied mini-apps. With this partnership, we can offer our customers an unmatched diversity of services from different business verticals in one single app."
Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, emphasizes the important milestone this partnership represents in the development of Max it, "This partnership with Tencent RTC is a key step in our vision to offer innovative and high-value services to our users. Enriching Max it with innovative mini-apps is essential to strengthen the value proposition of Max it, increase the penetration of our super-app among Orange and non-Orange customers, and amplify our social impact."
Fred Sun, General Manager of Europe, Tencent RTC said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Orange to enrich Max it with our TCMPP solution. This collaboration represents a unique opportunity to energize innovation and digital inclusion in Africa, facilitating the development of use cases and services tailored to local needs while promoting African entrepreneurship. Our experience in supporting Weixin/WeChat, one of the world’s original super-apps, makes us the ideal partner for Orange. We look forward to working with the African enterprises and support its ecosystem through Tencent RTC’s products and solutions in the near future."
From VivaTech to Shenzhen
Earlier this month, Tencent RTC wrapped up an incredible debut at Viva Technology. During the event, we announced the soft launch of the upgraded Max It super app for 160 million mobile customers across the Middle East and Africa as part of our partnership with Orange. The app enables users to chat, transfer funds, and engage on a single platform, enhanced by Tencent RTC’s real-time chat solution. We’re proud to support this innovation.
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting another visit from Orange’s leadership at Tencent headquarters in Shenzhen. We engaged with Orange’s senior executives across innovation, business, and regional teams—sharing ideas on AI, enterprise digitalization, and co-creating new user experiences.
About Tencent RTC
Tencent RTC (Real-Time Communication) is a core service provider within Tencent, offering global, high-quality, and reliable real-time communication solutions. Leveraging Tencent's extensive experience in servicing billions of users through applications like Weixin/WeChat and QQ, Tencent RTC provides developers and enterprises with a comprehensive suite of APIs and SDKs for embedding real-time audio, video, and interactive chat functionalities into their applications. Its services are designed for a wide range of use cases, including live streaming, video conferencing, interactive education, social entertainment, and enterprise collaboration, enabling rich, engaging, and immersive user experiences across the globe.