Rwanda launches first 100% "made in Africa" smartphones

The first smartphone made entirely in Africa was launched in Rwanda.

The smartphones Mara X and Mara Z will use Google's Android operating system, they will respectively cost 175,750 Rwandan francs (115,000 FCFA) and 120,250 Rwandan francs (80,000 FCFA).

The phones are manufactured by the technology company Mara Group.

"It's the first smartphone maker in Africa," said Ashish Thakkkar, CEO of the group at Reuters news agency during a factory tour on Monday.The company was addressing customers who wanted to pay more for quality , said Thakkar:

President #Kagame on the launch of @MaraPhones: The smartphone is no longer a luxury item. It is rapidly becoming a requirement of everyday life. That trend is bound to increase in the years to come, as more and more services migrate to digital platforms.https://t.co/ClzcTwYJlb pic.twitter.com/rLfcdiGlvT

— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) October 8, 2019

Companies are assembling smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa, but importing the components, said Thakkar."We are actually the first ones to do manufacturing, we manufacture the motherboards, we manufacture the sub-cards during the whole process .... There are more than 1,000 pieces by phone", he said. added.He said the factory cost $ 24 million and could produce 1,200 phones a day.President Paul Kagame said he hoped the phone would increase the use of smartphones in Rwanda, currently at around 15%.

smartphones Mara X , smartphones Mara X , Rwanda , Africa