By Juliet Umeh

Egoras Technologies Ltd., in partnership with Airtel Nigeria, is set to launch the Cube Phone, an Android smartphone designed to eliminate barriers to digital commerce for small businesses across Nigeria.

The device, scheduled for launch on April 28, combines “free internet for business use, a built-in contactless payment terminal, 100 customer payment cards, and a full suite of AI-powered business officers,” targeting millions of underserved micro and small enterprises.

The company said the innovation addresses a critical gap in Nigeria’s economy, noting that “of the country’s estimated 40 million micro and small businesses, fewer than 8 per cent currently accept any form of digital payment.”

It added: “POS terminals often cost more than a month’s rent, mobile money platforms consume expensive data, and digital tools frequently require business owners to surrender sensitive information to corporate servers.”

The Cube Phone is priced at ₦240,000 and will be distributed through Egoras showrooms nationwide.

Chief Executive Officer of Egoras Technologies, Ugoji Harry, said the product was designed to remove barriers to entry for small businesses.

“We did not set out to build a better phone,” he said. “We set out to remove every obstacle between a business owner and their first digital transaction. The phone is simply what it took to do that.”

At the core of the device is a zero-rating agreement with Airtel Nigeria, which eliminates mobile data costs for all business activities conducted through its proprietary operating system, CubeOS.

“From the moment a merchant powers on the device, every payment processed, AI consultation requested, and business application used runs on free connectivity with no daily caps, fair-usage throttling, or subscription fees,” the company stated.

Harry noted that the development could significantly reduce operating costs for small businesses.

“A typical Nigerian small business owner spends between N5,000 and N10,000 monthly on mobile data. With the Cube Phone, that figure drops to zero, and cumulative savings can recover the device cost within months,” he said.

The firm also disclosed that it has secured rights to extend zero-rated access to third-party developers building applications on CubeOS, describing the model as “unprecedented in African telecommunications,” while discussions with other telecom operators are ongoing.

Each Cube Phone comes with 100 Cube Cards, battery-free NFC contactless cards with a lifespan of up to 10 years, designed to simplify transactions.

“Merchants distribute them at no charge, and customers only need a single password to transact. The process requires no apps, private keys, or smartphones on the customer’s side,” the company explained.

It added that the distribution model is “deliberately viral,” projecting that “one million phones and 100 million Cube Cards could be in circulation within the first 12 months.”

The device is preloaded with an AI Business Suite comprising AI Legal, AI CFO, AI Coder, and AI HR tools.

“AI Legal drafts contracts and manages compliance in multiple Nigerian languages, AI CFO tracks transactions and generates IFRS-compliant statements, AI Coder builds mini-apps, while AI HR manages recruitment and payroll in line with the Nigerian Labour Act,” the firm said.

According to Egoras, “all AI interactions are encrypted on-device and stored on the Cube Blockchain, ensuring that no third party, including Egoras itself, can access user data.”

The company emphasised that CubeOS operates on a blockchain-based model where “all messages, financial records, AI consultations, and transactions remain encrypted on the handset,” while Airtel only provides encrypted transport.

“Cube Card transactions are authenticated, encrypted, and settled on-chain without a centralised processor,” it added.

Egoras said the Cube Phone represents a first-of-its-kind innovation in Africa, combining “hardware, payments, merchant card distribution, AI tools, zero-rated connectivity, and blockchain-based privacy” into a single device.

It noted that existing players such as mobile money operators and device manufacturers operate in silos, while the Cube Phone integrates multiple services into one platform.

The company said the product is headquartered in Lagos and positioned as “a full-stack business device capable of replacing multiple subscriptions, services, and hardware investments with a single purchase.”