Africa now has our first smartphone wholly manufactured on our continent in a factory in Rwanda.

The new smartphone factory for the production of the Maraphones was officially opened in April.

Components of the phone are manufactured in Rwanda and are also sourced from other African countries including South Africa.

WATCH: Rwanda becomes FIRST African Country to make a smartphone 100%

The Mara Phones according to its Founder Ashish J Thakkar are among the first devices to run Android Oreo. Android Oreo is an OS optimized for apps like YouTube Go, Facebook Lite and Twitter Lite that are made for the African market.
Mr. Thakkar revealed that there are plans to roll out another plant in South Africa. Mara Corp. is reported to be investing USD$100 million in such expansion projects.

Also Read: Mara Group to open R1.5-billion smartphone factory in SA

The establishment of the smartphone factory is expected to create some 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in Rwanda.

Currently some firms are assembling smartphones in countries such as Kenya, South Africa’s and Egypt.

But this is the first time a smartphone is not being assembled in Africa but all the parts manufactured on the continent.