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Imagine an African smart watch produced in the Republic of Benin! It has the very same basic functionalities as an Apple Watch or a Samsung Smartwatch. And besides being water-resistant and helping to monitor your heart rate, this smart watch can also help you to find your phone when it's lost/missing.
What is even most fantastical about this new smart watch is that it is more affordable than the afore-mentioned smart watch brands. And it's all thanks to Richard Odjardo, a Beninese tech entrepreneur whose company, AS World Tech, manufactures the product and more.
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Richard Odjardo can rightly be described as one of the hottest entrepreneurs in the African tech space at the moment. The 32 year old entrepreneur is on a mission to simplify Africans' daily lives through efficient tech. And while he's not the first to do this, it's obvious that he is doing more efficiently and affordably, albeit in an Africa-centric manner.
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Richard's products range from smart watch to laptops and smart glasses, and they are all said to be high quality and super affordable. With the smart sun glasses, you can answer your phone when it rings while you are on the steering. All you have to do is tap the glasses and you can effortlessly talk hands-free with whoever is calling. It can also be used to listen to music and can be connected to several operating systems (OS) all at once.
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Now, let's talk about the laptops produced by AS World Tech. First, they have interesting local names such as Shango 2, Orisha, Shadey, Ogun, etc. And they are quite affordable. As you may well know, it can be quite expensive to buy brand new laptops in Africa. And often times, repairing any parts of these foreign laptops can be quite hectic and expensive.
At this point, you are probably wondering how Richard Odjardo got the inspiration to start manufacturing his own tech gadgets. Well, on a few occasions after his phone was stolen, he couldn't trace it. So, he built a technology that can help anyone to trace and recover their lost or stolen phones. Also, after he almost had a fatal accident sometime ago when he tried to answer a phone call while driving, he decided to create a smart sun glasses primarily for the purpose of safety while on the wheels.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Richard Odjardo is building what is going to become a very profitable venture in the long run. Some global tech giants know this, which is why at least two of them have separately offered him $2 million and $3 million in a bid to buy him out. But of course he told them no.
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He said he wants Africans to continue to have these quality tech gadgets at affordable prices, cheaper than the amount leading global tech giants could ever sell them. He also wants his products to be a constant reminder to Africans that they too can produce locally instead of depending on foreigners to manufacture the daily tech products they need.
In a September 2021 interview with France 24, he stressed that the best ways to tackle unemployment in Africa are through entrepreneurship, innovation and technology.