The founder of Lukhele Mobile, Sifiso Lukhele says he always believed that there is a gap for Africans to build mobile phones.
Lukhele’s company started out as a mobile device company with its primary focus on manufacturing and marketing mobile devices with FINTECH capability.
The company has now evolved onto the Network side as a channel partner to CommScope, Mavenir, and Diplomat Communication.
IOL Business has it that telecommunications has been part of Lukhele’s adult life since he started working at MTN South Africa in 1998.
“As a service-oriented person, I have always believed that as mobile networks evolved, there have been mobile devices from each continent except Africa, and I set out to correct that,” he said.
In a recent interview, the founder and CEO of Lukhele Mobile said he recognised that although there are several African-born mobile devices, such as Mobicel and Mara phones, he still believed there was nothing in the brands that tells you that they are African, and he set out to correct that.
“I’ve been involved in maintaining mobile networks all around the African continent, I noticed that there was a need for low-cost smart devices and also a low density in financially inclusive solutions, and I decided to make the solution, and I sought to create a solution by an African for Africans,” he added.
Lukhele Mobile was conceptualised in 2013 due to the complexities of making an affordable device capable of financial transactions.
The company went on to have a soft launch of Lukhele Mobile online in 2018 to convince mobile network operators that the product’s name was not too ethnic and the market would embrace it.
“The market I started with was in eSwatini, where I had the privilege of growing up, and they embraced the brand,” he continued.
According to the specifications, Lukhele Mobile phones come standard with support for 2G/3G & 4G and its flagship product is the Lukhele Mobile L7, which comes with an 8 000mAh power bank to mitigate the intermittent power supply experienced in Africa.
Their mid-range product, the Lukhele Mobile L6, has a processor that minimises data spending by scaling down on images and video sizes.
Lukhele said what makes his offering different from similar phone companies is its capability to communicate with a prepaid meter, be it electricity or water, via the National IOT Network (Patent Pending), coupled with its FINTECH capabilities at an affordable price.
