Tuesday afternoon, a twitter user Izzy Obeng tweets, “One of the biggest barriers black people face is having a lack of role models in tech — and that’s not because they don’t exist. It’s because they aren’t getting the attention they deserve: in the news, in our classrooms, on panels”. Replace the ‘black’ with ‘Africa’ and you would have captured the caricature of Africa’s biggest problem.
That is why when I heard that President Paul Kagame was launching Africa’s first smartphone manufacturing plant, I was excited by the prospects of this game-changer. Mara Phones, a subsidiary company of the Mara Group owned by businessman Ashish J. Thakkar, has built a high tech smartphone manufacturing facility in Kigali’s Special Economic Zone, Rwanda. Whether this succeeds or not in competing with the other international brands, it a step closer as Africa keeps pace with emerging tech.
The factory, which was launched by Rwandan President Paul Kagame at a ceremony on Monday, has the capacity to manufacture more than 2 million smartphones in a year. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Thakkar said the company aims to manufacture high-quality smartphones at an affordable price while improving smartphone growth in Africa. The factory already employs 200 people. Interestingly, women represent 60% of the workforce, just highlighting how this kind of paradigm shift is going to change people’s mindsets in Africa. The high tech phones will be going on sale for as slow as $159 and $229
It is no longer just about having faith in the future but accepting the fate it shoulders. And the Smartphone’s story is an interesting one. I love the thoughtCo.com narration of smartphones. First, let’s make it clear that the smartphone didn’t start with Apple — though the company and its charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs deserve much credit for perfecting a model that has made the technology just about indispensable among the masses. In fact, there were phones capable of transmitting data, as well as featured applications such as email, in use prior to the arrival of early popular devices, such as the Blackberry.
Since then, the definition of the smartphone has essentially become arbitrary. For example, is a phone still smart if it doesn’t have a touchscreen? At one time, the Sidekick, a popular phone from carrier T-Mobile, was considered cutting edge. It had a swiveling full-qwerty keyboard that allowed for rapid-fire text messaging, LCD screen, and stereo speakers. In modern times, few people would find a phone remotely acceptable that cannot run third-party apps. The lack of consensus is muddied even further by the concept of a “feature phone,” which shares some of the smartphone’s abilities. But is it smart enough?
The initial failure to introduce what was a fairly novel notion of phones having a multiplicity of capabilities didn’t necessarily mean that consumers weren’t keen on incorporating smart devices into their lives. In a way, smart technology was all the rage during the late ’90s, as evidenced by the widespread adoption of stand-alone smart gadgets known as Personal Digital Assistants. Before hardware makers and developers figured out ways to successfully merge PDAs with cellular phones, most people simply made due by carrying two devices.
In 2007, at a heavily-hyped press event in San Francisco, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs stood on stage and unveiled a revolutionary product that not only broke the mold but also set an entirely new paradigm for computer-based phones. The look, interface and core functionality of nearly every smartphone to come along since is, in some form or another, derived from the original iphone’s innovative touchscreen-centric design.
Among some of the groundbreaking features was an expansive and responsive display from which to check email, stream video, play audio, and browse the internet with a mobile browser that loaded full websites, much like what’s experienced on personal computers. Apple’s unique iOS operating system allowed for a wide range of intuitive gesture-based commands and eventually, a rapidly-growing warehouse of downloadable third-party applications.
Technology adaptation and creativity lead to opportunities for employment and global export competitiveness. This should be remembered when considering Africa’s economic growth prospects. The global company is betting big on Africa. This is because of the continent’s young and ambitious workforce and the engineering talent that already exists in certain African Universities. I call this the comparative advantage.
