Rwanda’s Mara Group launched two smartphones on Monday, describing them as the first “Made in Africa” models and giving a boost to the country’s ambitions to become a regional technology hub. The Mara X and Mara Z will use Google’s Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs (US$190) and 120,250 Rwandan francs (US$130) respectively. They will compete with Samsung, whose cheapest smartphone costs 50,000 Rwandan francs (US$54), and non-branded phones at 35,000 Rwandan francs (US$37). Mara Group CEO Ashish Thakkar said it was targeting customers willing to pay more for quality. “This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa,” Thakkar said after touring the company alongside Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame. The @MaraPhones manufacturing factory is the first of its kind in #Rwanda & #African continent. Its aim is to contribute to #Africa ’s 4th Industrial Revolution agenda by being the pioneer in building modern smartphone manufacturing plants with state-of-the-art technology. pic.twitter.com/Xi2gXDgWa5 — Hope Magazine (@HopeMagazine1) October 7, 2019 Companies assemble smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa, but import the components, he said. “We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing. We are making the motherboards, we are making the subboards during the entire process,” he said. “There are over 1,000 pieces per phone.” Thakkar said the plant had cost US$24 million and could make 1,200 phones per day. AfCFTA: will Africa’s ‘historic’ free trade deal be a game changer? Mara Group hopes to profit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a pact aimed at forming a 55-nation trade bloc, to boost sales across Africa, Thakkar said. The agreement is due to begin trading in July next year, aiming to unite 1.3 billion people and create a US$3.4 trillion economic bloc. But it is still in the very early stages and no timelines have been agreed for abolishing tariffs. Kagame said he hoped the phone would increase Rwanda’s smartphone usage, currently at around 15 per cent. “Rwandans are already using smartphones but we want to enable many more. The introduction of Mara phones will put smartphones ownership within reach of more Rwandans,” Kagame said. For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters , subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast , and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report . Also roam China Tech City , an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus .
