Congo man launches Elikia smartphone

Verone Mankou, 27, told AFP that the so-called Elikia, which means hope in the local language, went on sale the in the Republic of Congo and will be sold in other African countries in due course.

The phone was initially due to go on sale in October but its launch was delayed "because of an explosion in demand," he said.

Though the phone is Congolese by design, it is manufactured in China. It costs about US$170 -- a considerable sum in this central African nation.

The phone has a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 512MB of RAM and a 650-Mhz processor. Its also has a five megapixel camera and comes with GPS and Bluetooth.

Mankou last year designed what was billed as Africa's first tablet computer.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge