South African Made Smartphones Mara X and Mara Z Now Available for Purchase

South African manufactured phones Mara X and Mara Z are now available in markets for purchase. This was made known by the multi-sector investment group Mara Group founded by Ashish J. Thakkar. The smartphones have been, and are being, manufactured in Durban, South Africa since 2018.

Thakkar had during the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference convened by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018, made it known that the aim of the company was to make cut-rate smartphones in Africa.

“The first high specification, an affordable smartphone manufactured in Africa, Mara Phones is committed to enhancing and enriching the lives of the people of Africa. Manufacturing in Africa enables job creation and also making the smartphone more affordable to all, contributing to business and development on the continent. Manufactured in Africa, ready for the global market!” reads a statement by Mara Group.

Interestingly, this latest development is coming at the heels of an announcement by Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Innovation, earlier in February 2019, that Mara will be opening a smartphone manufacturing plant in Rwanda during April 2019. Making it the second such plant after the one that is currently up and running in Durban, South Africa.

However, in the midst of the glee surrounding these latest advancements it is also worthy of note that Mara will not be the first maker of smartphones in Africa as Afrione in Nigeria opened it’s mobile phone manufacturing plants in Nigeria in 2017 and Egypt’s  Ministry of Communication-affiliated SICO Technology unveiled the first Egypt-made, Nile X, smartphone in 2017.

According to Thakkar,  “Mara is extremely excited to be investing $100 million in South Africa in the first high tech, high-quality affordable smartphones, in South Africa. As an African brand, as an African company, made in Africa, made by Africans, it’s time we create these jobs on our continent.”

The smartphones are available for purchase on the Mara phones website.