French state investment bank Bpifrance has reportedly sold 2.5% stake in telecoms group Orange for 1.1 billion euros (USD 1.3 billion), while retaining its position alongside the European country’s government as the telecoms operator’s largest shareholder.
The bank said it was acting jointly with the state, which owns a separate stake through public shareholding agency APE. As per Bpifrance, the financial entity and the French government will hold a combined 20.4% stake in the telecoms operator after the deal, remaining the largest shareholder.
Despite the stake sale, Bpifrance has maintained its confidence in Orange’s leadership and the strategy announced back in February 2026.
“France can reduce its Orange stake because French law grants double voting rights to shareholders who have held registered shares for at least two years,” one of the sources told Reuters.
BPifrance and APE will keep about 27% of voting rights in Orange, with board representation unchanged.
Orange has reported solid financial performance for the H1 2026, with revenue rising 3.5% year-on-year to 20.9 billion euro. The company’s Africa and Middle East (MEA) business emerged as its strongest-performing region, delivering double-digit revenue and profitability growth.
Revenue from the region increased by 13.9% compared to the same period in 2025, supported by the addition of 10 million new mobile data customers. Orange has maintained a sustained financial momentum in Africa and the Middle East, which has now delivered double-digit EBITDAaL growth for 10 consecutive quarters.
The strong commercial performance also translated into higher profitability, with EBITDAaL for the MEA region growing 16.1%, making it the largest contributor to Orange’s overall EBITDAaL growth of 5.0% during the H1 2026.
Realising the growth potential from this region, Orange has already increased infrastructure investments across its MEA operations. Group eCAPEX reached 3.2 billion euro, representing 15.2% of total revenue, with the company attributing the increase primarily to accelerated network deployment across the region, under Yasser Shaker’s leadership as CEO of Orange MEA. Excluding investments in Africa and the Middle East, the group’s overall capital expenditure declined during the period.
In MEA, Orange also reported continued progress in its digital inclusion and sustainability initiatives, apart from expanding its 4G population coverage by two percentage points to reach 80% of the population. The cumulative number of people benefiting from the telecom venture’s free digital training programmes, delivered in part through its network of Orange Digital Centers across the continent, rose to 3.8 million since 2021.
In H1, Orange further accelerated its transition to greener network infrastructure as part of its ambition to achieve net-zero status by 2040.
“The number of solar-powered network sites across the Africa and Middle East region increased by 24% year-on-year, with solarised sites now accounting for 31% of the region’s total network footprint,” the business noted.
“This semester marks a significant milestone in the execution of our ‘Trust the Future’ strategic plan. Our record first-half results confirm that our ambitions are rooted in solid execution: record growth in Africa & the Middle East, with 10 million new mobile data customers and near 14% revenue growth,” said Christel Heydemann, Orange Group CEO.
Orange has now upgraded its full-year outlook. It expects EBITDAaL growth of more than 4% for 2026, apart from forecasting organic cash flow of approximately 4.3 billion euro.