The “Made in Kenya” dream for mobile devices seems to be scaling up faster than anticipated.
During the launch of the NYOTA business capital support fund at Kasarani today, ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo revealed a massive milestone for the local assembly sector: 5 million smartphones have now been assembled in the country.
This figure represents a significant jump from previous years, signaling that the local assembly plants—likely including the East Africa Device Assembly Kenya (EADAK) and others—are running at full throttle.
The price sweet spot: KES 6,000 – KES 8,000
Perhaps more important than the volume is the pricing strategy. According to CS Kabogo, these devices are retailing between KES 6,000 and KES 8,000.
For years, the barrier to entry for many Kenyans hasn’t just been connectivity, but the cost of a 4G-enabled device. At this price point, the government is hitting the critical “sweet spot” that makes upgrading from a feature phone (kabambe) to a smartphone a realistic option for the mass market.
“The government has created jobs in digital space and presently, five million smartphones have been assembled in the country,” Kabogo stated, emphasizing that the device strategy is directly linked to the government’s wider job creation agenda.
A locally assembled smartphone ecosystem at this price range could:
- Reduce reliance on refurbished imports
- Improve device availability in rural areas
- Support government-led digitisation programmes
- Encourage local after-sales and repair ecosystems
We’ve seen the locally assembled Neon smartphone series try to capture this market. If there are indeed 5 million units in circulation (or sitting in warehouses ready to move), it validates the government’s aggressive tax incentives for local assemblers.
The logic is simple: You can’t have a digital economy if people can’t get online. By flooding the market with sub-10k smartphones, the state is essentially paving the road for its other ambitious projects, like the digital hubs and the digitization of government services (eCitizen).
However, the real test remains user experience. While the price is right, Techish will be keen to see if the specs of these 5 million units can handle the demands of modern apps and the very digital jobs the government is promising.
Assembly, not manufacturing — an important distinction
The statement carefully uses the word assembled, not manufactured. That distinction matters.
Local smartphone assembly typically means importing key components such as processors, displays, camera modules, batteries, and putting them together domestically. While this still creates jobs and reduces import costs, it is very different from full-stack manufacturing, where components are produced locally.
Kenya already hosts several assembly initiatives, particularly those aligned with the government’s digital inclusion and public service digitisation efforts. These phones are often targeted at:
- First-time smartphone users
- Government-backed programmes
- Youth and low-income households
- Institutional or bulk procurement
The KES 6,000–8,000 price range strongly suggests entry-level Android devices, likely with modest specifications designed for basic connectivity, mobile money, online learning, and government services.
The missing details
While the number sounds impressive, the statement leaves out several key details that will determine its real impact:
- Which brands or ODMs are involved?
- Over what time period were the five million units assembled?
- Are these devices already in circulation, or produced for future rollout?
- What Android version and update policy do they ship with?
- Are they sold to the public or distributed through government programmes?
Without this context, it is difficult to assess whether the claim represents a mature consumer market success or a largely institutional initiative.
A strategic play for digital inclusion
Viewed within the broader digital inclusion policy framework, the smartphone assembly claim aligns with the government’s push to:
- Expand access to e-government services
- Support digital jobs and online work
- Enable mobile-based entrepreneurship
- Reduce the cost of entry into the digital economy
If paired with meaningful software support, open app ecosystems, and competitive hardware quality, locally assembled smartphones could become a foundational pillar of Kenya’s digital strategy.
For now, the headline number raises more questions than answers. But it also signals that device affordability is finally being treated as infrastructure, not a luxury.
