Orange debuted a crowdfunding platform in Côte d’Ivoire through which individuals and charities can appeal for funds, using the operator’s mobile money service to make donations.

The operator partnered with HelloAsso, a crowdfunding platform for charities, to launch Orange Collecte, which “embodies the group’s desire to support innovative solutions that meet its customers’ basic needs, while illustrating the issue of developing innovative financial services in Africa,” it said in a statement.

A charity that wants to start a fundraising campaign must have an Orange Money account dedicated to the charity, while contributors will need to use Orange Money’s electronic wallet.

At the end of the collection, the amount raised is directly transferred to the Orange Money account of the user who started the fund.

Opening an Orange Money account is free for Orange customers.

The operator has deemed Orange Money a “great success”, claiming it has over 15 million customers, and says €4.5 billion was transferred through it in 2014 in 13 countries.

In July, Orange reported a 76 per cent increase in revenue from Orange Money for the three months to end of June, compared to the same period in 2014, though it did not reveal the actual revenue figure.