The Android phones retail for about US$40 (KSh5 220), priced about 30% lower than rivals in the market.

Kenya has reported massive uptake of locally-assembled, low-cost, 4G-enabled handsets since the establishment late last year of a plant to ensure more citizens have access to smartphones.

A senior government official disclosed that the East Africa Device Assembly Kenya (EADAK) had rolled out 490 000 mobile phones since the facility began operating.

Eliud Owalo, the cabinet secretary for information, communication and digital economy, said 70% of these phones had been purchased.

The Android phones retail for about US$40 (KSh5 220), priced about 30% lower than rivals in the market.

A partnership of the government, Safaricom and Jamii Telcom, EADAK is located at the Authi River outside Nairobi. Before the establishment of the plant, 61% of Kenyans were using feature phones.

The government is encouraged in a number of ways as this aligns with its programme to ensure more citizens access its e-citizen platform, enhance revenue generation and shield East Africa’s economy from the external debt crisis.

Owalo was speaking during the just-concluded Fourth Medium Term Plan stakeholder sensitisation meeting in the western Siaya County.

He said if more citizens can access phones and subsequently, e-citizen platforms, it would bring in more Kenyans into the income bracket.

He noted the “Hustler Fund”, an election campaign brainchild of president William Ruto, is also being disbursed electronically and aims to help the government enhance its revenue base.

“Our proposition as a government is that with digitalisation, we should be able to collect enough locally-generated revenue to the extent that we can sort external debt and finance local budgetary requirements.”

According to Owalo, some 16 892 services are available on the e-citizen platform, up from 350 when Ruto’s government assumed office in 2022.

He believes the adoption of the e-platform is curbing corruption in that there are no intermediaries between citizens and the service they require.