Is it possible to buy a dual-SIM unlocked GSM modern smartphone available without a contract for R1 400 today? Indeed it is, and from a company that has already sold more than a million handsets across Africa. Dubai-based startup Mi-Fone has only been going since April 2008 and is specifically aimed at the African market, according to chief marketing officer Nicolas Regisford.

“We launched in five countries across the continent with a 100-percent African focus,” he says. “We have a primary focus on the emerging markets – the bottom of the pyramids are those people earning less than $200 per month and we want to connect a good number of those.”