Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mobile Phone Plant starts in August

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By Sanday Chongo Kabange

Starting from August, handsets for Malaysian cell phone manufacturer, M.Mobile will be produced in Zambia. An official told Network World that M.Mobile would be investing more than $3 million in the plant, which will assemble units for local and regional markets.

The first targeted market is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

The Zambian M.Mobile plant will be capable of producing 50,000 and 70,000 mobile phones per month.The announcement is huge news for Zambia as it will mean the country’s first mobile phone manufacturing plant.

Aside from that, M.Mobile was also the first plant in Malaysia and the world’s first Muslim-owned mobile phone R&D and marketing company. The company’s website lists its missions as wanting to “launch the world’s first and only company providing Islamic Mobile Phone Solutions, develop and market a full range of innovative, attractive, reliable and quality Islamic mobile communication products and to be the platform through which Islamic mobile phone technology is transferred into Muslim countries”.

M.Mobile currently operates under it’s parent company Kosmo Technology which acquired a 30 percent stake in the company two years ago.

53 COMMENTS

  1. It does not excite us at all. Zambians be careful, you may be celebrating for Suicide bomber gadgets. They need to be scrutinised anyway !

  2. We should value the investor confidence in our economy.However,issues of cheap labour,externalisation of all profits and possibly indoctrination of our people to religious values using jobs as an enticement should be curtailed by Government.

  3. suicide bomb zambia?? since when did zambia become america? whats there in zambia that a suicide bomber or muslims can envy???!!!

  4. hey watch out. these guys begin infiltrating slowly and subtly. next time u will hear them saying we need a mosque at every corner of the roads.

  5. Be careful the Devil is craft he can use anything. The way people are being initiated into satanism one cannot tell. Zambia as a nation as been target.

  6. Please Zambians BE CAREFUL, WATCH OUT, terrorism is coming to ZAmbia. That is cheap labour coming with bombs in them. REmember, those are extreme moslems, they don’t joke. Be happy with what you have now. oh my God, terrorism is coming to ZAmbia!!!!! Hey ministers don’t be fooled, moslems are dangerous. They will take over christians and destroy christianity. I am really afraid of that development. It is a dangerous one.

  7. Well the news is all good to me i think.Even building any mosques is another good news.I spent most of my life in Chipata which i’d simply call half panjab due to those structures that make Chipata look somewhat much decent.
    Congrats to the Gov,am sure many things were considered in terms of protecting our land and people.From the past 2 years Zambia’s investment policies have been quite favorable for the home ground thou much again needs to be done so youth’s could access loans and the like to boost community based activities.On the other side,we are looking at many dudes owning nice phones not those expired toys,out of market stuff thrown to zed market

  8. #9 bo ndate bo Lubasi, how many pipo have died at the mercy of MMD’s ill planning? I thot u being in china makes u access quality information and u are up todate but am doubting your calibre now. Look, RB is on record saying foreign investiments have employed less zedians. even if they employed more zedians, what are the conditions of service, look at the chinese infestors who have litterly turned zed into an extention of china were dumping of cheap staff is concerned. and u still say this is good news? mind u big chinese companies do not invest in africa just like big indian companies.

  9. Doubting. cell phones are now all over places such as chisokone, nakadoli, soweto and are very cheap such that even grade 7 chaps can afford them. simcards are now at K2000.00 as compared to K250000.00 in 2000/2001. Lets venture into some other investment areas that will benefit the majority of zambians. Its true these guys might just be coming in with hidden agendas.

  10. My special question is;
    Have these guys already built a structure?When and
    Where?
    Are they gonna use the already existing infru-shingana ntwanikane left by zcbc,mwauseni or coorperative unions?
    Awe katwishi kanabesa mulopwe.
    On that point we are far much behind pa zed.Anyone just come in,rent,go away but it’s also good coz economy pa paper nibustelefye olowezi.Ine nefontini am just seengs things getting worse and worse and the cities becoming Nyimba all of them including Lusaka,katwishi pa Nos westeni plovinsi,it seems all is clear.Sorry for my ignorance.Pepeni kwambiri ma bloggers,muni swalele kwaten’i

  11. Sorry,,mwaiseni,pepani am so much used ukulemba utuma footsteps for birds,,chinese characters u see

  12. Manufacturing what! My foot!! These guys have not even come yet, and NEXT MONTH THEY START MANUFACTURING cell phones – fitumbuwa?! Where’s their infrastructure?

    I tend to agree with #1, 6, 7 and 12. Honestly, can a serious investor put up a MANUFACTURING PLANT, bring in necessary materials, do the recruitments, etc and start serious business within three weeks? Zedians, these are infestors watch out!!!!!

  13. You lot are really pessimists. Since when have the Malaysians been violent jihadists? You certainly do not know much about Malaysians. They got independence at the same time as Ghana in 1957. Today you cannot compare the two. Malaysians manufacture everything from Mobile phones to Automobiles. Most probably some of the electronic products you own from Japan are wholly or partially made in Malaysia. They depend on their own indigenous company Petronas to explore and drill their home oil resources. Malaysia has three racial groups..the majority Malay, the Chinese and Indians. They are not the wacko jihadists from the middle east.

  14. Well, let wait and see what this has to offer. Am sure they have a good package for the unemployed zambians, who may be languishing around now. As for me it is a welcome idea….. please stand still.

  15. pliz investigate some of these investors.you are putting the country at risk.of all things,cellphones! no,no pliz.never trust them.they are not wealth having.why not tractor making?

  16. Allow me to air one aspect observed in our todays life of business, i will centre my views on Advertising in zambia. Basically, zambian advertising is not regulated by any one, this has brought some many back yard performances. The industry is not collected on certain ways of showing adverts on screen especially, if you look to ZNBC laws are not supporting the shocks adverts to flash out. But we need the control in this industry, because even advertising firms are surprising the way things are moving. This industry has unactive association i hear..Please tutors from Colleges, universities and schools train the nation on how upheld certain ethics once achieved from you..so that we can make it

  17. #15 well said mate,as for the pessemists ,fear not new investments and new ideas from people you dont understand,your ignorance is not completely your fault, if you do something about it. Enlighten yourself, instead of living under the fear of the unknown, embrace positive thought and move in the direction of progressive thinking, this in its essence will lead you to become a well rounded person, a person who in this century a breath of fresh air, afterall its 2008/2009
    The thought of us manufacturing cell phones has broadenened our horizons,tomorrow our manufacturing industry will be a pillar of strength.There is a vacuum to be filled in Africa and its our time to rise and move forward.

  18. Be careful Zed ,i know these pipo(Moslems) trust me.#5 u are correct,they will start aquiring land for mosques and gradually enticing and transformaing our christian religion into islamic,and the more islam the country is the more it becomes a American suspect of habouring terrorists.,”NATUCHENJELE!!!!!! “”

  19. Zedian are jokers..What di you expect if the only thing you are clear of is being tribalist and labelling other tribalist to frustrate them..

  20. #1. REALITY says: Jul 11th, 2008 at 10:55 am

    “It does not excite us at all.”

    Speak for yourself. This excites “ME” a lot.

  21. #2. Makweti-London
    #3. how not to die
    #4. Doctor
    #5. CHE GUEVERA
    #6. Concerned Zambian, Dublin, Ireland
    #7. Hey!

    GROW UP!!!!!!!

    Why are you discriminating. Who do you think you are to judge them. You are forgetting that some of the companies operating in Zambia are Muslim owned and we already have Muslims in Zambia so what’s your point. If you don’t like the investment, then “you” come set up a mobile phone assembly plant. People need jobs, what have you done to give them jobs.

    It is time to GROW UP. Act your age not your shoe size damn it

  22. #8. CHE GUEVERA

    When did you leave Zambia. Up to now you do not know that MTN is already operating in Zambia.

    Plus MTN does not manufacture phones. Just provides the service for telecommunications.

  23. #11. Miseshi – Mindolo

    If you think there are other sectors in the economy where you can invest. Why dont you take up the opportunity and invest in that sector before some “foreign investor” takes the opportunity to do so since majority of Zambians on this blog are Xenophobic.

  24. #14. RobbyMC

    I am curious to know.

    1. What is the name of your manufacturing firm.
    2. What do you Manufacture
    3. How many people do you have on payroll
    4. Is the firm operating in Zambia
    5. What percentage does it contribute to the GDP of the country

  25. #17. Eastern Power

    1. How much do you pay your maid and garden boy??

    2. What conditions of work do you provide them with??

    3. What benefits have you provided them with???

  26. #18. kunda

    You are backward my friend.

    We have to move from a country dependent on natural resources to a technologically advanced country.

    COME TO THE 21st century my friend.

  27. #21. Darfur

    What makes you think you are any different.

    You are simply showing you racism, prejudice and tribalism. If this is the way Christians behave then i would rather be an Atheist.

  28. well the current economic eniroment of zambia does not support a mobile phone manufacturing company as to start with the lobour market and the GDP/GNI per capita .mobil phone i want say to much but goverment what out……..

  29. Good news for some of me! the begining of precisely what i want to hear, foreign direct investment finally trickling in. we need more to reduce the high unemployment levels and even encourage other investors to come on board. sii mwamene?! we are the globe…..

  30. Good news for some of me! the begining of precisely what i want to hear, foreign direct investment finally trickling in. we need more to reduce the high unemployment levels and even encourage other investors to come on board. sii mwamene?! we are on the globe…..

  31. Can our engineers and technologists please prepare themselves for some new skill that these guys are bringing. We should welcome them so that we can learn and copy their technology. In so doing we may end up having our own mobile phone manufacturing company which is owned and managed by Zambians. That is how economies grow not by bad prophesies and complaints about labour laws. Can we please be serious.

  32. I had a chance to look at M.Mobile GSM phones last year during the launch of the ICT policy at Mulungushi I.C.C. In terms of design, most of there phones resemble Sony Ericsson phones, especially the K, G, T and S series of phones which are rectangular. They are selling some phones already in Zambia(Visit Zamtel shops) and u will find white phones. M. Mobile is a Malaysian company, and everyone who deals with electronics knows what kind of a giant Malaysia is in terms of R & D and just technology. My hope is that they do not start making “Phones for Africa”, which are cheap made with cheap material, you drop it once and that’s the end. Generally, there phones are not bad.

  33. But when compared to other Phones made by other companies, the best thing to do is to get one and experiment, then you will be able to come up with a conclusion. All the best

  34. Am very disappointed with the reactiion of most zambians on this blog. YOu show true signs of xenophobia. When chinese, turkish, malaysian, japanese, zimbabwean companies invest in zambia, the immediate out cry stinks of xeonophobia and ignorance. Manufaturing is one way that the country’s economy can be boosted, that is the only way that zambia can catch up with RSA.I have own some electronic gadgets manufactured in Malaysia, that I thought were made in Japan, with technology as good as japanese. Hey people, lets give these investors a chance, lets get excited and lets have a positive thinking and attitude and not the 15th century retrogressive, primitive thinking that you are displaying.

  35. Are you happy to own these 10th hand cell phones from soweto and Kamwala? Its times we manufactured our own stuff like blankets, cell phones, motor cars etc with a label Made in Zambia. Come guys, research, and read widely to shed off your ignorance.

  36. OVERVIEW OF MEDIA IN ZAMBIA-compiled by k

    Zambia has one National Broadcaster, thus Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) a state owned entity, and one privately owned Christian television station, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TNB) and the list includes Muvi TV and Central Broadcasting Corporation. Fifteen (15) or more radio stations, three of which are government owned entities. In the print media category there are eight newspapers two owned by the government while the rest are privately owned and have got independent operations, of course regulated by the state agencies. There are more than five popular magazines that produced and these supply national information.

  37. Zambia’s Statistics – Population 11.5 million

    Radio
    Estimated households with working radio sets 1.2 million

    Estimated number of radio sets 1.5 million

    Estimated Radio reach (all ages) over 6.5 million

    Television
    Estimated number of households with TV sets 850,000

    Estimated number of working TV sets 900,000

    Estimated Television reaches 5 million

    Colour TV household 400,000

  38. ELECTRONIC MEDIA

    TELEVISION STATIONS

    Znbc TV – has an estimated reach of 3.5 million and covers all towns and adjacent areas along the line of rail and provincial centers. Peak viewing time is 18:30 hrs to 21:30 hrs which coincides with the main news at 19:00 hrs.

    Trinity Broadcasting Network – TBN is privately owned and offers free public television broadcasting in Zambia. It currently has three independent television networks located in Central Province, Copper belt Province and Lusaka Province and Southern Province up to Mazabuka. It operates 24 hours daily. Estimated viewer ship, 2.5 million.

    Muvi TV – New TV station has been operating for close to 3 years now. Opera

  39. RADIO STATIONS

    Radio 1 – Listening peak times are 06:00 – 09:00hrs, 12:30 -13:00 hrs, 18:00 hrs – 21:00 hrs. Covers the whole country with a listener ship of 3 million which cuts across all ages and education levels in both urban and rural areas. On this station programmes and adverts are aired in 7 main vernacular languages, all broadcasts are done in vernacular.

    Radio 2 – Peak listening times are 06:00 – 08:00 hrs and 19:30 – 21:00 hrs. Reach is national with an estimated listenship of 3.2 million. The frequency of listening to radio 2 increases with education with more listeners coming from secondary school and higher levels of education. This can be attributed to the fact tha

  40. Sky FM – A 24 hour contemporary music-led commercial radio station. It is aimed at people who are part of the mainstream modern Zambia cutting across all income groups. Target audience is 25 – 49 year old. The studio is situated in Monze between Livingstone and Lusaka. Reach, apart from Southern Central Zambia to Choma, Lusaka, and Kabwe and beyond Kapri Mposhi. It has an estimated listenship of 1.2 million.

    Radio Icengelo – A Catholic run community radio station it accepts all adverts except those promoting alcohol and cigarettes. It has a wide and universal appeal and is very popular among housewives. Based in Kitwe, reach is Copper belt and Lusaka.

  41. Target Audience for the last four radio stations includes villagers, small scale business, commercial farmers, civil society and the general public. Groups found in their areas of operation.

    5 FM Radio – The latest radio station to grace the Zambian Airways. Still in its infancy reach is Lusaka and surrounding areas. The station is run by seasoned broadcasts Matteo Phiri, Frank Mutubila, Sam Sakala and Hermengildo Daslva. The station derives its audience primarily from the older mature citizens. The younger generation will also be catered for. 5 Fm Radio will focus on lifestyle issues, current affairs, profiles on movers and shakers, business new, the environment, etc.
    Coverage

  42. PRINT (PRESS) MEDIA – NEWSPAPERS

    Times of Zambia – Printed daily and is government owned. It has a circulation of 25,000 copies nationwide and a readership of 7 per copy. It is considered the premier newspaper and subscribed by government, corporate and embassy houses. It is also popular among office workers. Reach is national.

    Zambia Daily Mail – Printed daily and owned by the government it has a estimated circulation of 20,000 and a readership of 5 per copy. It is read mostly by office workers and women because it has a good extensive features section. The youth and unemployed are among this paper’s large number of readers because it has not less than two pages of employment

  43. ADVERTSING IN ZAMBIA.

    MCCANN ERICKSON ADVERTISING
    In the 1970s a number of multinational companies begun coming into Zambia. These companies were also bringing along foreign advertising agencies into the Zambian market. One such company was Colgate Palmolive. Everywhere the company existed, Colgate Palmolive brands were being specially promoted by McCann Erickson Advertising who was their world wide advertising agency. Therefore, it followed that when Colgate Palmolive came to Zambia it had to bring along its advertising agency.

    McCann Erickson was an advertising agency that originated from the UK. It established its offices in Zambia in 1978 and bought out Grant Advertising and inc

  44. McCann Erickson Advertising carried out its clients’ campaigns very well and successfully launched a number of brands. Some of the famous and memorable ad campaigns included Colgate. Most of the brands that were promoted by the agency even became household names. Lever Brothers products like lifebuoy, for example, became very attractive were liked on the market.

    In the 1980s, there were administrative adjustments in Colgate Palmolive in U.S.A. and Europe which led to the change in the advertising agency of the company. This meant that McCann Erickson advertising lost its most principal client. This shift changed the situation worldwide and subsequently in Zambia. McCann Erickson Adverti

  45. Even Young and Rubicam’s Zambian office is a full-service advertising agency, distinguished by its proprietary knowledge, analytic rigour and creative solutions. The agency prides itself in its capabilities of igniting brand energy through big ideas. The Zambian office has a staff compliment of 26 people representing client services, creative services, production, research and public relations.

    Over the years Young and Rubicam Advertising has dominated the Zambian advertising industry, scoring many successes as well. The agency has since employed and trained a number of people most of whom are now running their own agencies or are notable in the industry. It has grown in reputation as

  46. In 2000, Young and Rubicam Advertising was acquired by the WPP Group, a London-based advertising agency. Owing to this, the agency has the back-up and resources of the entire WPP network worldwide and in Africa. Apparently, the WPP Group also bought Ogilvy Advertising and this lead to a merger of the two agencies. Young and Rubicam Advertising in Zambia shares central facilities with Ogilvy Zambia a partner WPP company.

    Today Young and Rubicam Brands worldwide are managed by CEO Peter Stringham

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