Uganda on Saturday flagged off the exportation of the inaugural batch of locally assembled mobile phones. The phones were manufactured at the country’s first information and communications technology manufacturing and assembling factory.
The first batch of 18,000 Uganda-made phones was airlifted to Morocco after being flagged off by State Minister for Investment, Hon. Evelyn Anite. The phones were assembled at the five-million-U.S.-dollar factory which is under Chinese electronics company Engo Holdings Group Limited, launched by President Yoweri Museveni in November last year to manufacture phones and laptop computers.
Located in Namanve industrial park, Simi technologies owned by Chinese Electronics firm ENGO Holdings Uganda Limited have started off the exportation of smartphones and feature phones, just six months after they launched operations. The company has been supplying 2G analog phones fitted with blue tooth, camera and low emission Ddiode bulbs on the Ugandan market.
The factory runs three production lines with a capacity of producing 2,000 feature phones, 1,500 smartphones, 800 laptops, 2,000 chargers, 4,000 USB cables and 4,000 sets of earphones. The State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite welcomed the development which she said is a huge step towards reducing Uganda’s import bill especially on information computer technology products and boosting export earnings.
The minister said in a tweet on Saturday she witnessed the flag-off. “This morning, I had the pleasure of flagging off the first batch of Ugandan made mobile phones manufactured by Uganda’s first phone manufacturing plant (SIMI Technologies) to Morocco,” She wrote. “This is a step towards reducing Uganda’s import bill on ICT products and boosting export earnings,” she added.
According to the minister, the company currently provides employment to over 400 youths.
“This is as a result of the government of Uganda prioritizing investment in industrial parks to support industrialization and create quality jobs,” the minister said.
Anite said the plant was not only contributing to the economic growth and development of the country but it was immensely helping in building local capacity through transfer of ICT knowledge and skills.
“In addition to manufacturing phones and laptops, SIMI Technologies has also started manufacturing protective eyewear and affordable Digital Temperature Guns which will go for as low as 50,000 Ugandan Shillings (about 13 U.S. dollars) in an effort to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Anite said.
She also asserted that similar models of SIMI phones have already hit the Ugandan market.
SIMI is the first phone and laptop making factory in Uganda. It already has a factory in Ethiopia targeting markets in Cameroon and Morocco.
According to National Information Technology Authority, a state-owned agency, there are about 22 million mobile phone subscribers in Uganda. It says the sector is growing at 27 percent per annum.