Rwanda’s Mara Group launched two smartphones on Monday, describing them as the first “Made in Africa” models, according to a Reuters report.
The phones, the Mara X and Mara Z, will use Google’s Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs ($190) and 120,250 Rwandan francs ($130) respectively.
They are expected to compete with Asian manufacturers like Huawei and Samsung, two companies that dominate Africa's smartphone market.
“This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa,” Mara Group CEO Ashish Thakkar told Reuters after touring the company alongside Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.
He said that several companies assemble smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria, and South Africa, but most import the components from Asia.
We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing. We are making the motherboards, we are making the sub-boards during the entire process.
There are over 1,000 pieces per phone.
With only 15% of Rwandans owning a smartphone, Mara believes they could be positioned for explosive growth through 2025.
Kagame told people at the launch event that affordable smartphones are going to drive the country into the 21st century.
The smartphone is no longer a luxury item, and 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. We want to enable many more Rwandans to use smartphones. The cost and quality is very important and the introduction of Mara Phones will put smartphone ownership within reach of more Rwandans.
