Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturers of BlackBerry smartphones are hiring in East Africa. This is according to an Industry Insider who prefers to remain anonymous. CIO East Africa has learned that the company has approached several people for key executive positions.
Additional sources indicate that Ken Oyolla, former Nokia General Manager for East and Southern Africa had declined an offer for an executive position from a "multinational manufacturer of mobile devices." Oyolla resigned in December last year from his GM position in Nokia as the firm restructured its African offices and consolidated the region under their South Africa office. Larry Madowo, a business news reporter with NTV,  later reported that Oyolla had taken up a much larger role in Nokia where he will be Global Head of Market Activation for Mobile Phones.

Wadi Wepener, RIM Regional Director East, Central and West Africa and his colleague Rui Brites Director Africa product Management made several visits to Kenya in the second half of 2011 . The two stated that RIM was in the process of establishing a local legal entity and opening up offices in the region.

The recent developments are, therefore, a testament to RIM's increasing interest in the region. Strong competitors include Samsung who have put up a great fight to grab market leadership in the region, with Nokia still fighting to protect its turf.

CIO East Africa tried unsuccessfully to get a confirmation from RIM on whether they are actually hiring. But both RIM and their media agency have, however, not denied that they are hiring, only saying that they "would provide a statement when ready".

Despite their global issues, RIM has been performing quite well in the region despite it having almost no presence. Recently, mobile operators have made moves that makes Blackberry devices even more affordable and appealing.

Price points for the phone have come as low as KSh 19,000 while the Blackberry Services range from KSh 20 per day to KSh 999 per month on Safaricom and Airtel from KSh 25 per day to KSh 999 per month.