Rwanda to Open its First Smartphone Factory in April 2019

Rwanda’s Minister for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Innovation Paula Ingabire has announced that the country is ready to launch its first smartphone factory in April 2019.

Ingabire made this known while addressing the country’s parliament Standing Committee on Education, Technology, Culture, and Youth.

While reporting and clearing up the all the ICT issues she and her team have identified, the Minister also explained there is an investor, Mara Corporation, a Pan-Afrikan technology company with the plans to set up a smartphone factory in Rwanda.

In her words, “To ensure smartphones become affordable, different strategies are needed to ensure each household has a smart device and digital literacy. We hope that the plant to locally produce smartphones will boost access.

“Once the factory starts producing smartphones, people will be paying in installments over a period of 24 months. We also have to work with telecommunication companies to seek ways of reducing prices on internet use, which will boost ICT penetration and digital services.”

It is worth noting that Rwanda will not be the first African country to reveal plans for having a mobile phone factory. Aside from the fact that there are several phone assembling plants in Africa, Kenya’ Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications, and Technology Joseph Mucheru announced in 2018 that the country has set aside approximately $9,9 million to help local startups design and manufacture mobile phones in the country.