Eleven months after opening its first African manufacturing facility, Sun King, the off-grid solar startup, is now making smartphones in Kenya as it expands its PayGo model into Kenya’s growing financed-device market.
The move puts the company in direct competition with M-KOPA and Watu, which have built businesses around financing smartphones for customers who might otherwise struggle to afford them.
Sun King’s EZ 3 smartphone requires a KES 2,299 ($18) deposit and KES 55 ($0.43) a day for 365 days, bringing the total cost to KES 22,374 ($173).
The company does not offer the phones for outright purchase, Victor Agandi, its vice president for PayGo in East and Southern Africa, told TechCabal in an interview on Thursday. Customers instead enter a financing contract and make payments throughout the year.
Originally published by TechCabal.