One of Africa’s high tech players, Mara has announced plans to produce what it described as first made-in-Africa smartphone.
Tagged Maraphone, the company said, the full-scale smartphone that will soon to be manufactured in plants across Africa is high-spec, affordable, smart, transformative and in line with the Bank’s Industrialize Africa High 5 priority.
Speaking at a press conference at the on-going Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, said China has Huawei, Xiaomi; the U.S has iPhone and finally Africa has Maraphone.
“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,” Thakkar said.
The Maraphone phone, a first-of-its-kind in the history of Africa, will produce high quality and affordable smartphones to primarily serve the population of Africa and also with the aim to export to other continents such as Europe.
According to Thakkar, the first manufacturing plants are to be located in Rwanda and South Africa and would create thousands of direct jobs