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    The brain behind Africa's first tablet

    Verone Mankou (@verone), is the brain behind the first African tablet to rival the iPad. At the age of 26, Mankou designed the tablet known as "Way-C" in his hometown, Brazzaville, Congo. "Way-C" means "the light of the stars" in a northern Congolese dialect.
    The brain behind Africa's first tablet

    The "Way-C" tablet

    Just like any other person in the face of Africa, Mankou had a vision when designing the Congolese tablet. His dream was to create the new technology that brings a "balanced quality and accessibility (price) perfectly". He achieved the dream when the tablet was launched earlier this year, reportedly selling at less than half the price of the first Samsung Galaxy tab.

    It wasn't all easy for the Brazzaville based entrepreneur. He had to struggle, brawl and give great effort to find the funds to materialize his project. Potential investors turned him down, some people didn't believe he would succeed and some folks laughed at the idea of Mankou inventing the first African tablet.

    Copyright/Source: Facebook
    Copyright/Source: Facebook
    click to enlarge

    He eventually turned a deaf ear to all the critics and persevered until the Congolese government heard of the his idea and invested 50% of the funds needed. A couple of months later, the first 5 000 devices of the touchpad were designed in Congo, manufactured in China and were released and made available in Congo.

    Future plans

    That's not the end of Mankou's vision. He has plans to release a Smartphone, designed and made in Congo. He is now trying to build a manufacturing plant in Congo, which will manufacture new technologies instead of sending the designs all the way to China.

    For more about Verone Makou, go to verone.me.

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