By Prince Osuagwu

Nigerian made tablet PC Inye has debuted, sending competition signals to international brands like Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy tab among others.

Invented by a young Nigeria, Mr Saheed Adepoju ,  Inye is from the stable of Encipher Group, a company Adepoju and his web developer  friend, Anibe Agamah, formed to offer customised IT services and products, including cloud computing. The product is to be designed for the African market.

According to the 29-year-old Adepoju, the key selling point of Inye is its price – $350 (N56,000) as against the approximately $750 or about (N130,000) for an iPad.

Adepoju believes that, for the price, there is a big market for his new invention, particularly in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.

Adepoju is hoping find market for the new tab, among secondary and tertiary institution students as well as among the Nigerian government. He intends to market the product and create awareness that would see the product deployed at least one in each local government area.

Inye is a mobile internet device runs on the Google Android operating system.It gives access to the internet and allows the user to play media files and watch movies.

Built in a unique way between a laptop and a mobile phone, the device is an 8-inch machine.

Among the features of the tab is the standard software applications that come pre-installed and many other bundles from various local developers.

Inye is an Igala language, meaning ‘One’. The product has a local app designed to raise awareness about HIV among others related to water and sanitation.

Lead inventor, Adepoju is a Sun-certified Java programmer with a background in software development.

He revealed that after doing a first degree in maths and computer science in Nigeria, he however completed another course in advanced computing by research at Bournemouth University, in the United Kingdom.

Inspiration

Adepoju said that after graduation in 2009, he returned home to Nigeria, had a stint in a consulting firm, got sacked in a controversial circumstances and had hit his inspirational idea when Apple launched iPad in 2010.

For him, with the waves iPad made and the ease of work it brought about, price could be a barrier for low income earners who may actually need it most. So the idea that creating a similar product with low price particularly for Africa’s low income earners would be a novel idea. So Inye became an idea.

Help from borrowed money

Having created the idea, convinced that it would sell, the biggest problem for Adepoju was capital and in the African business environment sourcing money for investment was almost a suicide mission. He had to borrow money from friends and family, raising close to N10 million. However, the sum could only take care of the devices and logistics and so had to depend on oral marketing strategy and social media to look for market for the product.

Adepoju said that the first 100 units of the device, were built in China, adding that the apps developed in the product are focused on keeping the local culture through technology.

He also said that his company was working on Encipher TV, where people can watch African movies, plays and films.