The models of the African manufacturer Mara Group, Mara X and Mara Z, with the Android operating system will cost approximately 190 and 130 dollars, respectively.
In Rwanda, the Mara Group company 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 center, reports Reuters.
The new models of the first manufacturer of the continent, Mara X and Mara Z, use the Android operating system and will cost approximately 190 and 130 dollars, respectively. In Rwanda, one of the smallest countries in Africa, the current use of smartphones by the population is around 15%, but the general director of Mara Group, Ashish Thakkar, expressed his hope that the manufacturing of New models will help increase that percentage.
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"This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa," the CEO said after visiting the company with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. He stressed that his company is a pioneer in launching the production of fully produced phones in Africa. While other companies in the continent import the components, Mara Group manufactures even the motherboards. The CEO also said that the construction of the plant had cost 50 million dollars and could make 10,000 phones a day.
While Samsung phones in local markets can cost $ 54, and unmarked phones of $ 37, the price of Mara's new smartphones is obviously higher, but Ashish Thakkar believes his smartphones would be fit "for customers willing to pay more for quality. "
The first manufacturer on the continent hopes to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a pact destined to form a commercial bloc of 55 nations, and which plans to unite 1.3 billion people to boost sales in Africa. The agreement will be in force from next July, although the document is in the early stages of preparation and the deadlines for abolishing tariffs have not yet been specified.
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