Mara Group advances talks to open first smartphone factory in Rwanda

08 Feb 2019
Financial Nigeria

Summary

Maraphones will be affordable, high-end smartphones and they will run on the latest version of Android One, an optimised operating system for lite applications.

Ashish Thakkar, Founder, Mara Group

The Minister for ICT and Innovation in Rwanda, Paula Ingabire, has disclosed that the government is in talks with Mara Group, a pan-African technology company, to establish a factory to produce smartphones in the country.

In November 2018, Ashish Thakkar, Founder of Mara Group, announced the company would roll out phones for sale in South Africa and Rwanda this year after setting up factories with more than $100 million investment.

According to him, Maraphones will be affordable, high-end smartphones and they will run on the latest version of Android One, an optimised operating system for lite applications.

Addressing the parliament on Thursday, Ingabire said that smartphones are important ICT tools that enable citizens to access digital services and should, therefore, be affordable.

“To ensure smartphones become affordable, different strategies are needed to ensure each household has a smart device and digital literacy,” she said. “Once the factory starts producing smartphones, people will be paying in instalments over a period of 24 months. We also have to work with telecommunication companies to seek ways of reducing prices on internet use. This will boost ICT penetration and digital services.”

The New Times, a Rwandan daily, reported that the company could begin construction activities by April.

Last year, other African countries, including Uganda and Kenya, also announced plans to assemble or manufacture mobile phones locally.

“We all know the importance of high quality and affordable smartphones and their impact on the continent,” said Thakkar. “Quality smartphones means we can truly enable financial inclusion, micro-lending and micro-finance which can translate to better education, digital healthcare and agriculture efficiency and improved commerce.”

According to the GSM Association, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to have 500 million cellphone subscribers by 2020. As of March 2017, up to 270 million people in the SSA accessed the internet via their mobile devices.


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