The launch of the country’s first locally-made smartphones Mara phones in June is expected to drive up smartphone usage.

It will also accelerate digital services and information access in the country.

The smartphone made by Mara Corporation Ltd, comes at a time when the country is digitising its services, from money transfer, mobile payments to government services.

The government signed a 25-year partnership with Rwanda Online to develop a platform where all government services will be offered electronically to increase efficiency. So far, up to 100 government services, including getting a birth certificate, Mutuelle de Santé contributions, criminal record certificate among others, are done online.

Smartphone use has been growing in the country, however the key challenges have been affordability, digital illiteracy and connectivity.

“The first locally-manufactured phones will be launched in June and we are very excited, Rwanda is a fantastic choice for us,” said Ashish J. Thakkar, the CEO of Mara Phones.

“We will offer affordable smartphones that don’t compromise on quality,” he added.

The Mara Z, which among other features comes with facial recognition technology, will be sold at Rwf180,000, while the Mara X will be sold at Rwf125,000.

Mr Thakkar said the phone comes with other features such as a standard finger print reader, biometrics and facial recognition, or mobile money use and authentication.

The Mara phone is not coming into the market to compete with low budget smartphones, but seeks to give mid-range smartphones a run for their money.

Paula Ingabire, the Minister for ICT and Innovation recently said the government is in negotiations with Mara Corporation to make it possible for people to pay for the phones in instalments over a period of 24 months.

She said having a plant that manufactures smartphones in the country will go a long way in boosting access.

The government will also work with service providers to reduce Internet costs to accelerate ICT penetration.

Data released by RURA shows that mobile phone subscriptions reached 9,665,544 by October 2018, but majority of these are not smartphones.

Internet penetration in the country had reached 47.7 per cent by September 2018.