Reports have it that Nigeria spends $400 million importing phones annually. Taking the bull by the horn, AfriOne in 2016 invested in the building of Nigeria’s first smartphone/tablet manufacturing company.
The Factory located in Lagos commenced operation in 2017 for the production of 300,000 phones monthly.
Today, the Federal Government’s N-Power programme is their major buyer.
Thus, the manufacturer of the first Made-In-Nigeria, high standard, phones and tablets, AfriOne, launched some accessories on Tuesday.
The devices which included sound accessories is collectively called AfriOne BEATS; and a powerbank, all launched at the #ICTELEXPO2019 organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI).
Built From Scratch
According to the MD/CEO, AfriOne, Mr Sahir Berry, the company has a factory in Nigeria, where the products are all made, assembled and distributed from. Formerly focused on smartphones, feature phones and tablets, the company decided to go into the creation of the accessories which it launched today.
The Made In Nigeria Products
Formerly having, under its belt, the Gravity Z2 and CHAMPION PRO smartphones and the PUNCH and Naija1 feature phones, AfriOne launched the AfriOne BEATS sound accessories on Tuesday.
The AfriOne BEATS accessories include:
The Bluetooth enabled wireless Music accessories which are
The Compact Earpods
The Stick Earpods
The Sporty Neck Band
The Wired Music accessories which are
The Wired Foldable Headset
Metal Earphones
The AfriOne power bank which has
A high capacity digital power of 10000mAh, and a pocketable compact size.
The Bluetooth enabled wireless speakers which are
The Powerful Speaker with extra bass
The portable wireless speaker
The pocket wireless speaker
The portable speaker is waterproof and all the products come with a 12-month warranty.
Challenges
Mr Sahir related to the press that the major challenge with producing in Nigeria is with the local supply chain system which should be supplying high standard components.
It poses a challenge which the government can tackle by actively supporting the budding industry.
What It Means
AfriOne has 15 service centres available across Nigeria and has outlets available in 18 states.
This shows that it is possible for Nigeria to produce the ICT products she uses. This will reduce cost, create jobs and boost the economy. It would also give Nigeria a chance to tell her unique story. The AfriOne feature phones can be operated in Nigerian languages.
By following AfriOne footsteps in producing by and for Nigeria, more ways to make unique ICT devices suited for Nigeria will be discovered.
