Nokia, a global mobile phone supplier, is showing its continued confidence in the African mobile market with the release of affordable phones in Kenya.
Nokia has released the Nokia 100 and dual-SIM Nokia 101.
Nokia estimates that by the year 2015 about 20% of the world’s new mobile phone subscribers will come from the African continent. 
Speaking in Nairobi during that launch of the phones this week, Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones and Nokia, Mary McDowell, said that more than 1,3 billion people use a Nokia mobile phone device and the figure will increase due to Africa’s vibrant emerging market.
“We’re really on a roll with dual-SIM. These are entry-level devices to give consumers who are just starting out on their mobile experience, a modern, capable feature-rich device. Particularly for the youth markets in Africa, it really brings a new level of functionality to this price point,” McDowell said.
Though fairly new in the Kenyan dual-SIM phone market, Nokia had its trial run last year when it introduced its first dual-SIM mobile phone, the Nokia C-2 on the global market.
The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 are currently available in Kenya, with the Nokia 100 now joining the dual-SIM array, which is Nokia’s fifth dual Sim device in the last three months.
The dual-SIM functionality enables users to connect to two different networks and to receive calls and messages helping them manage costs and maintain network coverage without needing several phones.
McDowell, who has been visiting with Nokia’s mobile phone leadership team in Africa over the past week, said the mobile applications (apps) development market on the continent has been showing promise.
Last year a Kenyan app developer took the top award at Nokia’s Global Calling all Innovators Contest, a major reason McDowell said Nokia is looking to further the app development sector.
“We have put more people on the ground here in Kenya and more broadly in Africa to work with developers so that we can get those truly relevant applications in content and also improve our tool capabilities,” she said.
Nokia also provides Life Tools, a mobile phone service available on the Nokia Series 30 and Series 40 devices.
Life Tools, which are designed to inform and improve the livelihood of consumers in developing countries, provides SMS services in the areas of agriculture, education, healthcare and entertainment.
