Huawei and Microsoft have teamed up to produce a Windows-run smartphone exclusively available in Africa, reports the BBC ^[1]. Launched today, the modified smartphone is part of the Microsoft 4Afrika ^[2] initiative for what is considered one of the fastest growing technology markets in the world.

The smartphone is a modified derivative of the Huawei Ascend W1 handset displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, and sports a display of 4-inches with a resolution of 480 x 800, a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4GB of internal storage and an exemplary stand by time of 480 hours. Prices have not been announced yet, but rumours ^[3] are it will cost in the region of US$150. The handset is set for release in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola.

Director of Microsoft Windows Phone division in the Middle East & Africa Gustavo Fuchs told the BBC that: “Our aim is to be the most affordable Windows phone in Africa. Affordability is important but without the right local content we believe a lot of users will not see the benefit in the change from a basic feature phone to a smartphone”. Even though technology is growing fast on the continent, most users still use feature phones instead of smartphones. With the correct price, this handset could take off with a bang.

[Image Credit] ^[4]