For one not paying close attention, Africa may seem like a quiet continent on the technology front. But that seeming quiet does not mean that Africa is folding its hands across its chest. With over 400 tech hubs sprouting, Africa's technological space is blossoming. Africa has witnessed technological innovations from Kenya's Mpesa, a money transfer innovation, to the world's largest telescope in South Africa. In addition, there's the Flutter wave, a Nigerian financial application programming interface, and then traffic robots in Kinshasa and a lot more. Now Rwanda has produced the first smartphone made completely in Africa.
Rwanda Has Produced The First Smartphone Made In Africa
Mara group, a Rwandan tech company, has vowed to help Rwanda transform itself into a regional tech hub. And the company is putting their money where their mouth is. This week they released two smartphones into Africa's phone market, deserving the title of pioneers. The first producer of smartphones made completely in Africa.
For clarity, it is not that smartphones have never been produced on the continent before. South Africa, Egypt, Algeria have all had smartphones assembled in the country. However, Mara produced the phones from the motherboard to the packaging. Therefore, the Mara group is the first to completely produce a smartphone themselves.
"The entire manufacturing process, from the motherboard all the way to the packaging of the phone is done in our newly-opened factory," Eddy Sebera, Mara's manager for Rwanda, told CNN.
Rwanda's president made this announcement in Kigali during a press conference at the Mara Phones Factory located on the outskirts of Kigali. "The Mara Phone joins a growing list of high-quality products that are made in our country," the president said.
According to the company, Mara group produced two models of the smartphone in Rwanda: There's the Mara X with 16GB storage. It will sell for 120,250 francs. Also, the bigger model Mara Z will sell for 175,750 francs. It is designed with a 32GB storage space, double of what its counterpart carries. Both run on the same operating system: Google android.
The company admits that the phones are indeed a bit pricey than Tecno phones in the same category. However, they're hoping customers will buy for its quality and the fact that it is homemade.
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