Mara to Produce Its First African-Made Smartphones

TechInAfrica – On the last Friday, Mara introduced its first production of full-scale African-made smartphones called the Maraphone. The smartphones will be manufactured in plants in Rwanda and South Africa.

The Founder of Mara Group, Ashish Thakkar explained about the production of Maraphone, “China has Huawei, Xiaomi; the U.S has iPhone and finally Africa has Maraphone,” said Thakkar.

“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. We are extremely grateful for the African Development Banks push in this sector which greatly encouraged our progress,” he added.

The Maraphone will be the first to be established and made by African with a high-quality specification and less expensive. It is expected to serve the most population of Africans and additionally, to be exported to another continent like Europe.

Speaking about the specification, Thakkar said, “This is going to be totally transformative and create thousands of direct jobs.

Thakkar also explained that the global manufacture of mobile phones will have hit a billion units in the next few years, yet none of them produced in Africa. The Maraphone will target African smartphone users as the products are manufactured in the two African countries.

The production of Maraphone has received a support from the Development Bank under its High 5’s Strategy to support industrialization on the continent.

During the launching ceremony, the President of the Development Bank, Akinwunwi Adesina commented on their support to the production of the Maraphone. He stated, “By 2020, the value of Africa’s mobile money industry is projected to top $14 billion. We need African-developed mobile phones to leverage this potential.”

“Africa is bold, strong and innovative. Africa’s time is now,” Adesina concluded.