Meet The First Made In Africa Android Smartphone made In Rwanda

Africa is becoming more technical advanced, here comes the first made in Africa Android smart phones, made and assembled in Rwanda by the Mara Group, according to them the Motive is “committed to enhancing and enriching the lives of the people of Africa.”

The Mara Group launched two smartphones, the Mara Xand the Mara Z smartphones and they run on Google’s Android operating system. The Mara X sales for RWF 175,750 (about $190) and the Mara Z costs RWF 120,250 ($130).

Thakkar said companies in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria, and South Africa do assemble smartphones with imported components. However, while Mara does the whole manufacturing in Africa,

“We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing We are making the motherboards, we are making the sub-boards during the entire process,” he said. “There are over 1,000 pieces per phone.”

“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.

Mara CEO however stated that the plant costs $24 million and can of make at least 1,200 phones daily .He proudly said that Mara phones are to compete with phones from Samsung, whose cheapest phone cost RWF 50,000 (about $50), and non-branded phones at RWF 35,000 (about $37).

Rwandans are already using smartphones but we want to enable many more. The introduction of Mara phones will put smartphones ownership with reach of more Rwandans,” Kagame said.

While the company admits they are a little more expensive than other options, like the popular Tecno brand phones made by a Chinese-owned company, they hope customers are willing to pay a bit more for quality and Made in Africa pride.

The CEO have hopes that the Mara Groups will profit from the African Continental free Trade Agreement, the free trade agreement is a pact aimed at forming a 55-nation trade bloc, to boost sales across Africa.

What do you think about this new development in Africa?, is it worth an applause? Leave us a comment on the comment box below,

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