First Africa Smartphone factory Now open in Rwanda
By Oyebamiji Adesoji Usman on October 9, 2019
As China has Huawei, Xiaomi; U.S has the iPhone; and, finally, Africa has Maraphone. Mara Corporation, making Rwanda the first country on the young continent of Africa to locally manufacture full scale phones. This project will show the potential and ability that Africa can produce high quality and affordable smartphones in Africa, by Africans, for Africans and for the rest of the world. Before this development Africa have few that are been assembled on the continent but nothing is truly being manufactured in Africa.
Mara X and Z smartphone model.
Mara is not the first company to claim to have produced the first African made smartphone but included imported parts. Before now, Rwandan government has collaborated with telecommunication companies to seek ways of reducing prices on internet use, which will boost ICT penetration and digital services. The east African country, once again, is at the very forefront of Africa’s digital revolution.
On Monday, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda officiated the Africa’s first high tech smartphone factory in the country’s capital Kigali. President Kagame hailed the launch as another breakthrough for development in Rwanda, which has enjoyed rapid economic growth in recent years and gained a reputation as a hub of innovation.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame at an event in Bonn, Germany, on October 5, 2019. He officiated the launch of Mara Phones manufacturing plant on October 7, 2019. PHOTO | URUGWIRO
Mara is producing two types of smartphone in Rwanda: The Mara X with 16GB storage space will retail for 120,250 francs ($130), while the more advanced Mara Z model with 32GB storage is on sale for around 175,750 francs ($190). Both phones include features such as high-spec cameras and voice activation mode. The smartphones will be among the first devices to run Android Oreo, an OS optimized for apps like YouTube Go, Facebook Lite and Twitter Lite that are made for the African market.The devices are now available via Mara’s website and stores in Kigali.
Mara Phones, a subsidiary company of the Mara Group owned by businessman Ashish J. Thakkar, has built a high tech smartphone manufacturing facility in Kigali’s Special Economic Zone, Rwanda.
Ashish Thakkar, 38, is the founder of Mara Group, a Dubai-based, African-focused conglomerate with interests in the technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate & agriculture industries.
Ashish Thakkar, founder and chief executive officer of Mara Group, smiles during a forum on African energy and innovation at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. A two-decade surge in growth in Africa suggests the poorest continent is starting to come to grips with its challenges and has raised the prospect of the and quot;African lions and quot; emulating the and quot;Asian tiger and quot; economies in the 21st century. Photographer: Drew Angerer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ashish Thakkar 2014 BLOOMBERG FINANCE LP
Thakkar once described his new factory as historic due to its position as the first smartphone manufacturing plant on the continent.
Oyebamiji Adesoji Usman is the Chief-strategist at Think Media Nigeria. He believes that the young continent can grow, if all African countries can focus on technological advancement, economic development and disruptive entrepreneurship.
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