Ethiopia to assemble their first smartphone

Hong Kong-based mobile manufacturer Tecno Mobile’s Ethiopian counterpart is set to release its first smartphone completely assembled in Ethiopia. The smartphone will hit the shelves in mid-July and will range between $339 and $400.

Tecno Mobile’s T1 smartphone (image: Tecno)

The smartphone, called the Tecno T3, will run on Google’s Android 2.3 operating system and will feature the Amharic language for now, as well as a GPS.

“Tecno already has several models on the market, all of which support Amharic, Oromiffa, and Tigrigna languages. The new phone will, for the time being, support only Amharic, according to Henry Yu, Tecno’s general manager in Ethiopia,” wrote Addis Fortune.

The Amharic feature was developed in Ethiopia. “It was developed by a local company called Information Technology Transfer Services (ITTS). The software, Amharic Soft Keyboard and Messaging Application, works on all phones supporting Android”, said Ayalew Aseffa, CEO and founder of the company.

He added that it supports SMS, email and other information transferring systems.

Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor