The government has granted Positivo BGH a licence to open a smart device manufacturing and assembling plant in Kigali.

The Latin American company will begin operations by May next year, where they will kick off with manufacturing of laptops and tablets.

With due time the company will move into producing cell phones, TV’s and other home appliances such as microwaves.

“We are having our first factory in African here in Rwanda, we believe in what Rwanda is doing. We have sold over 5.4 million computers, we plan to do the same in Rwanda,” said Miguel Stief, chief executive of Positivo BGH.

“We are looking at the economies of scale. We intend to bring an eco-system of educational products. We have a commitment to bringing all these industries together, we are also bringing expertise, technology if we succeed in bringing all these together,” he noted.

The firm is complementing the One Laptop Per Child, a project that has disbursed laptops to Rwandan pupils in the past years.

The company expects to manufacture over 700,000 devices in the first year.

Juan Ignacio Ponelli, company’s president of the African division said they expect to capitalise on volumes as their major strength as it aims at selling affordable products.

Minister for Youth and ICT Jean Philbert Nsingimana, said this is part of a wider campaign to increase usage of smart devices and tap into the country’s fibre resource.
However, the success of this strategy hinges on the country’s ability to bridge prevailing digital illiteracy.