Rwanda has opened its ‘first entirely homemade’ smartphone factory, which is the first in the whole of Africa.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame inaugurated the brand new factory in Kigali on Monday 7 October 2019. The factory is being described as Africa’s “first high tech factory”.
President Kagame hailed the launch as another breakthrough for development in Rwanda, which has enjoyed significant economic growth in recent years and is rapidly gaining a reputation as an innovation hub in the continent.
President Paul Kagame inaugurating the factory in Rwanda
The phone is called “Mara Phone” and it joins an increasingly long list of high-quality products being made in the small East/Central African country. The Mara Phones Factory is situated on the outskirts of Kigali and is part of the Mara Group, a pan-African business headquartered in Dubai.
Mara phone displayed during the inauguration of the factory
The factory is expected to deliver high quality smartphones at an affordable price, not just for Rwandans but the East and Central Africa region and beyond.
The Mara factory will be producing two types of smartphone in Rwanda: The Mara X with 16GB storage space, which is expected to retail for 120,250 francs ($130). The second, more advanced Mara Z model with 32GB storage is on sale for around 175,750 francs ($190).
