M-Tech Chairperson, Seedat Mohamed, said the M-Tech cell phone is a fully registered Zambian brand, which would grow to make the country proud. He noted that the technology used in the cell phone manufacturing was of superior standard, adding that it meets all international requirements.

He said the company will be producing about 1,000 phones per day which will cost about $36 (200,000 Zambian Kwacha). The company’s plant which was opened by the country’s president Rupiah Banda is situated in the capital city, Lusaka.

Banda said the company would employ over 200 Zambians in various capacities.

A Lusakatimes.com report quoted the southern African country’s president recently saying that among the 200 Zambians that would be employed will be engineers and technicians.

Banda who has the huge task to uplift the country and maintain the prudent leadership of his predecessor late Levy Mwanawasa also observed that the company would benefit Zambians through employment creation, technology transfer and human resources development.

“Keeping Zambia competitive begins with keeping our economy growing. And our economy can only grow when a lot more Zambians invest in the domestic economy,” said the president.

President Banda also said his nation was now boasting of home-grown corporations which he said were now among the largest in Africa.

The President said government was determined to continue facilitating actual production of mobile phones, adding that this would greatly help reduce the cost of communication in the country.

He further said this was aimed at adding value to the country’s economic development process, which was a significant step towards the realization of the vision 2030 of transforming Zambia into a middle income country.