A few days ago, the Nigerian government launched the first-ever made in Nigeria smartphone dubbed ITF Mobile. While I’d like to believe such a bold claim, I keep wondering if Nigeria can actually manufacture a phone at the moment. The phone was actually assembled by the ITF Model Skills Training Center (MSTC) and said to have been produced using locally sourced materials. Now, that’s more convincing.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo while presenting the ITF Mobile to President Muhammadu Buhari tagged the device the first ever to come out of Nigerian, but, is it? According to the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Joseph Ari, plans to ensure the commencement of the mass production of its smartphone is at an advanced stage, making it available and affordable.
The big question Nigerians has been asking is that is this device really the first Nigerian homemade phone?
First Made In Nigeria Phone?
Before now, it was discovered that a number of Nigerians have actually come up with different smartphones tagged Made in Nigerian phones amongst which are; Solo Aspire 3, Ankara K2, and Plirisblazex-64.
Solo Aspire 3
Solo Aspire 3 was manufactured by a Nigerian tech company, Solo, which was formed in 2012 by a group of telecom professionals led by Tayo Ogundipe, a Nigerian-born ex-senior global executive with HTC and Sony Ericsson.
Ankara K2
The Ankara K2 smartphone was launched by a Nigerian device maker, Imose Mobile around early 2015.
Plirisblazex-64
Plirisblazex-64 smartphone was manufactured and released into the tech market in 2015 by Pliris Mobile Limited, a Nigerian tech company, founded by Oluwafemi Alade.
Also, on April 25 April 2017, The Guardian published a report stating the emergence of the first-ever made-in-Nigeria phone by AfriOne.
The report partly read, “ More than 15 years after Nigeria joined the global system for mobile communications, the first made-in-Nigeria phone has finally debut, thus throwing the country into the growing league of communication gadgets manufacturers.
“The phone, which components are sourced and assembled locally, serves as a technological breakthrough and precedent for the country.”
Wait, is it that the government can’t differentiate assembly from manufacturing or they’re just using it to grab the worlds attention.
ITF Mobile Specs
Currently, there are no words about the device specs aside that it runs the Android OS.
5 Facts You Should Know About The ITF Mobile
- There is no Made in Nigerians Phone yet. What the government is calling made-in-Nigeria phone is actually assembled in Nigeria because no phone is globally recognized to have been manufactured in Nigeria.
- The ITF mobile phone is an Android phone assembled by the Electrical/Electronics Technology Department of the Industrial Training Fund’s (ITF) Model Skills Training Center in Abuja.
- The Mobile phone is made from components 100% locally sourced from Lagos and Aba, Abia State.
- The phone is ready for mass production.
- The model skill training centre collaborated with the Institute of Technical Education and Services, Singapore. The institute also collaborated with ITF in five trade areas: computer networking, mechatronics and autotrophs, ICT, facility management, and culinary.
Final Verdicts
ITF mobile is neither the first made-in-Nigeria nor the first smartphone assembled in Nigeria.
Lol