Pan-African operator Africell has launched its first 3G smart feature phone, afriphone.
The device is powered by smart feature phone operating system KaiOS, and will be the first device to use the OS to launch in The Gambia and Sierra Leone. It will also be made available in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Afriphone is aimed at being affordable for customers, offering 3G connectivity and access to essential and popular apps like WhatsApp, the Google Assistant, Facebook, YouTube, and Google Maps, as well as unique native content such as the Africell’s customer care app.
Additionally, it includes other smartphone-level features such as Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, and offers a hybrid dual-SIM slot that supports two SIM cards with 512MB memory + 256MB RAM. It also boasts a powerful battery that enables extended hours of talk time.
Ziad Dalloul, Africell Chairman and CEO stated: “Introducing this smart feature phone will help us bring valuable digital services and information to the markets we operate in at a price that people can afford.”
KaiOS-enabled phones come with the KaiStore, the only app store for feature phones, with over two hundred apps from global and local content providers. KaiOS is now the third largest mobile operating system worldwide, running on over 100 million devices shipped across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Sebastien Codeville, CEO of KaiOS Technologies, said: “The afriphone will have an immediate impact on people’s lives across the region, offering an inexpensive and convenient means of accessing the internet’s invaluable resources including education, banking, and healthcare for the first time. We are continuing our journey to enable a sustainable ecosystem by bringing in relevant apps and services that are designed to benefit people in emerging markets.”
