Nairobi — President William Ruto has announced that Kenya is set to manufacture the cheapest smartphone in Africa within a year, whose cost will be less than five thousand shillings.

President Ruto speaking at a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) roundtable forum Thursday morning said that having a cheap smartphone will ensure that all Kenyans can access digital platforms for business and accessing government services.

The President noted that they are already working with the telecommunication sector so as to come up with a cheaper gadget which is capable of doing everything.

"Today the cheapest smartphone is between sh10,000 and sh15,000, we want to see. I want to promise the country that in the next 8 to 12 months we will have the cheapest smartphone in Africa, manufactured in Kenya," President Ruto stated.

The Head of State also announced that his administration is working towards moving about 90 per cent of government services to digital platforms between a period of six months to one year.

The President noted that digitization of government services will ensure that citizens access services at the comfort of their homes.

The President also has underscored the importance of technology in upscaling trade in the MSEMs sector.

"We have about 15 per cent of government services in the digital platform, and we want to ensure that between six and 12 months we will have moved 90 per cent of goverment services to the digital platform," he stated.