Expectations were high after President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2021 officially unveiled the ITF mobile, the first-ever Android smartphone produced by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).
The excitement was hinged on the fact that Nigeria presumably can start local production of phones, even though ITF claimed that the phones were locally produced by the Model Skills Training Centre of the Industrial Training Fund; an agency under the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment.
“Phones were produced using locally sourced components, by the Electrical/Electronics Technology Department of the Industrial Training Fund’s (ITF) Model Skills Training Centre,” Joseph Ari, ITF Director General said.
The following year on August 1st, ITF DG reassured Nigerians in Jos that the agency was almost finalizing plans to process requirements to enable Nigeria to begin mass production of Android phones in the country. This also includes Intellectual Property Rights, patent rights, legal framework, etc.
“We needed to also work with other regulatory agencies in terms of drawing the legal framework and other things and we are now at the concluding end to find the legal framework for intellectual property rights.
So, from that June last year till now, we have done a lot to ensure that we roll out the mass production of Android mobile phones and even a private company in Lagos. Afrione an Indian company has also approached us to partner with us in the area of capacity building and we have already signed a memorandum of understanding in that regard. So the rolling plan is on the course,” he said.
Perceived Bottlenecks
As of the time of filing this report, there is no record of mass production of ITF mobile phones or Android phones.
Industry analysts have argued that ITF mobile phones were only assembled and not locally manufactured, saying that there was no record of any made-in-Nigeria phone.
However, local production of smartphones or phones will require access to a circuit board, microphone, display, speaker, sim card holder, buzzer, vibrator, monitor battery, antenna, etc.
TechEconomy gathered that Africa’s largest economy lacks the capacity currently to completely manufacture phones until its able to fabricate the chips and components that make up high-tech technology devices.
“The phone that was showcased by the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, is just an example of other phones that have been assembled in Nigeria,” National Coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, Olusola Teniola said in August.
“The component that makes up the phone and the screen were packed by other technology companies outside Nigeria. Nigeria can only claim to have assembled the phone. There is no record of any indigenous phone that was built bottom-up in Nigeria.”
Teniola said that he was aware of some companies assembling phones in Nigeria just like AfriOne clarifying that the firms only assemble but don’t manufacture phones.
“What they do at AfriOne is the assembling of parts like others, but they do not manufacture. Afrione is one of those who have been able to produce an assembled featured phone.”
Phone Market
Nigeria, according to the World Bank, has the largest mobile market in Sub-Saharan Africa, due to its strong mobile broadband infrastructure and improved international connectivity. One of the most important sectors in the country is telecommunications.
It is estimated that the average device owner changes devices every 6 to 18 months, while approximately 63 million devices are sold in Nigeria each year, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission,
On the other hand, Counterpoint Research’s Global Monthly Handset Sales Tracker, annual smartphone sales in Nigeria will increase by 81% year on year in 2021.
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