Tingo International moves production to China after shutting down Nigerian plants

After shutting down its manufacturing plants in Nigeria, telecommunications and agritech services provider, Tingo International, has struck a deal to have its Tingo-branded devices temporarily produced in China.

The deal was made with UGC China to have the mobile devices made in the Asian country.

According to Dozy Mmobuosi, Tingo International Group CEO, the deal was made pending the acquisition of Yekani Manufacturing, a South African-based manufacturing company Tingo International indicated an interest in acquiring earlier in 2020.

Tingo International’s partnership with UGC China enables the company to meet its obligations. Despite being a temporary deal for the production of Tingo-branded phones, the manufacturing deal with the Chinese-based company will allow Tingo International to ship up to 9.4 million devices to Nigeria by January 2021.

Expressing confidence about the South African manufacturing company, Mmobuosi said the acquisition is close to its final stage and will ensure that the Tingo-branded devices are manufactured in Africa.

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“We should be able to finalise the deal in a couple of months,” he affirms.

Mmobuosi revealed that Tingo International had sold over 21 million mobile phones to farmers and other players in the Nigerian agricultural value chain within the last decade. Interestingly, most of the devices were assembled in Tingo manufacturing plants located in Nigeria.

Until October 2018, Tingo International owned and operated two mobile phone manufacturing plants in Nigeria before shutting them down in 2018. The shutdown was credited to foreign exchange gaps as well as the high cost of running the plants.

“We needed to be smart about it, so we shut them down and continued to work with our partners in China,” Mmobuosi said.

When asked if Tingo International would consider setting up an assembly plant in Nigeria again, the founder of Tingo International said the company would have to provide a cheaper and more sustainable source of energy while paying attention to foreign exchange.

Mmobuosi further revealed that the acquisition of the South African-based Yekani Manufacturing would make business sense for Tingo International.

It is also believed that assembling Tingo-branded devices in South Africa would open up new market opportunities for the company beyond its current West African markets.