NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 10 – Kenya is set to manufacture the cheapest smartphone in Africa in 2023 whose cost will be less than five thousand shillings, President William Ruto has said.
Speaking at a Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) roundtable forum Thursday morning, Ruto said that having a cheap smartphone will ensure that all Kenyans can access digital platforms for business and accessing government services.
The President noted that they are already working with the telecommunication sector to come up with a cheaper gadget that is capable of doing everything.
“Today the cheapest smartphone is between sh10,000 and sh15,000. I want to promise the country that in the next 8 to 12 months we will have the cheapest smartphone in Africa, manufactured in Kenya,” President Ruto stated.
The Head of State also announced that his administration is working towards moving about 90 per cent of government services to digital platforms over a period of six months to one year.
The President noted that digitization of government services will ensure that citizens access services at the comfort of their homes.
The President also has underscored the importance of technology in upscaling trade in the MSMEs sector.
“We have about 15 per cent of government services in the digital platform, and we want to ensure that between six and 12 months we will have moved 90 per cent of government services to the digital platform,” he stated.
Kenya’s penetration levels of feature phones and smartphones stood at 67.9 per cent and 53.4 per cent respectively in 2021.
