Microsoft couldn’t be accused of taking a small view of things. It announced its Microsoft 4Afrika initiative in February. The company plans to ‘help place tens of millions of smart devices in the hands of African youth, bring one million African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) online, upskill 100 000 members of Africa’s existing workforce, and help an additional 100 000 recent graduates develop skills for employability, 75 percent of which Microsoft will help place in jobs’, it says.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft and Huawei have announced a low-cost smartphone – the Huawei 4Afrika, a Windows 8 phone that will come preloaded with some apps specifically designed for Africa. The device is aimed at ‘university students, developers and first-time smartphone users to ensure they have affordable access to best-in-class technology to enable them to connect, collaborate, and access markets and opportunities online’, and is the first in a range of devices aimed at this market. The 4Afrika will become available in Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa in the first quarter of this year.