African smartphone market grows 3% despite challenges

MTN has announced that it will offer up to 1.2 million of its prepaid subscribers an option to buy a 4G smartphone for just ZAR99 ($5.42).

Despite the surge in demand for smartphones last year in Africa, feature phones continue to hold their ground and account for a substantial 52% of market share on the continent.

Xiaomi reportedly revealed plans to invest CNY50 billion (US$6.9 billion) over the next 10 years to develop its own mobile processors, and is set to unveil such chips this week.