In collaboration with foreign gadget manufacturers, Kenyan telecom providers unveiled their first local phone manufacturing plant on Monday.
The government promised to set up a local smartphone assembly with the potential to produce up to 3 million units annually. This assembly is located in the Athi River and is called East Africa Device Assembly Kenya Limited (EADAK).
During the launch, Joshua Chepkwony, the chairman of EADAK, informed reporters that the devices will retail for Ksh. 7,499 in price.
They will be sold throughout the nation in dealer and Faiba stores, as well as at Safaricom stores and the Masoko website.
The 4G-enabled Neon 5-inch “Smarta” and 6-and-a-half-inch “Ultra” will be the flagship mobile phones at launch. In the upcoming months, EADAK plans to introduce a locally-made tablet.
The plant is expected to create between 300 and 500 direct jobs.
“The introduction of EADAK confirms our conviction that connection can improve lives and spur economic growth. The CEO of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, stated, “This partnership demonstrates our unwavering pursuit to expand 4G access and empower Kenyans through affordable, high-quality smartphones, create employment opportunities, and grow our economy.”
Kenyan carriers predicted in May that 1.2 to 1.8 million gadgets will be produced annually, with the lowest-priced model likely to retail for Ksh. 11,500.
When President William Ruto stated last year that the government is working on a strategy to have locally manufactured mobile phones retailing at less than Ksh.5,000 (about 50 USD at the time), this was more than double what he had pledged.
At the time, Safaricom’s Head of Ventures and EADAK Project Lead Karanja Gichiri attributed the price increases to the new mobile phone taxes included in the Finance Act, 2023, stating that despite their search for a reasonably priced chip supplier, the levies drove up the cost by 40%.
The issues of import duty, excise duty, and output VAT would need to be resolved if we were to move toward the goal of a $50 phone. On May 24, Gichiri informed the parliamentary Finance and Planning committee that the ultimate cost of a phone would be at most 6,500 to 7,000 shillings.
