Egoras, Airtel to Launch AI-Powered Cube Phone

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

Egoras Technologies Ltd., in partnership with Airtel Nigeria, is set to launch the Cube Phone, a groundbreaking Android smartphone designed to remove barriers to digital commerce for small businesses across Nigeria. The device 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.

The announcement targets a critical gap in the Nigerian economy. Of the country’s estimated 40 million micro and small businesses, fewer than 8 percent currently accept any form of digital payment. 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 (approximately $150) and is set to launch on April 28, with distribution through Egoras showroom rooms nationwide.

“We did not set out to build a better phone,” Ugoji Harry, CEO of Egoras Technologies said in a statement on Thursday. “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 centre of the Cube Phone proposition is a zero-rating agreement with Airtel Nigeria, eliminating mobile data costs for all business activity conducted through CubeOS, the device’s proprietary operating system. 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.

Harry highlighted the immediate economic impact, noting that a typical Nigerian small business owner spends between ₦5,000 and ₦10,000 monthly on mobile data. With the Cube Phone, that figure drops to zero, and cumulative savings can recover the device cost within months even before revenue from card payments or AI productivity gains.

Egoras has secured the contractual right to extend zero-rated access to third-party developers and businesses building applications on CubeOS, a model described as unprecedented in African telecommunications. Partnerships with MTN Nigeria and Globacom are in advanced discussion.

Each Cube Phone ships with 100 Cube Cards passive, battery-free NFC contactless cards with a ten-year lifespan. 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 distribution model is deliberately viral. Each phone introduces 100 cards into a merchant’s local economy. As cardholders recognize the network’s value, a percentage purchase their own Cube Phones, each with 100 additional cards. Egoras projects one million phones and 100 million Cube Cards in circulation within the first twelve months.

The Cube Phone comes with a pre-loaded AI Business Suite consisting of four specialized officers. AI Legal drafts contracts, manages compliance filings, and supports English, Pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. AI CFO tracks transactions, generates IFRS-compliant statements, reconciles Cube Card payments, and detects fraud. AI Coder builds mini-apps and automated workflows from natural-language instructions. AI HR manages recruitment, payroll, attendance, and performance reviews, fully compliant with the Nigerian Labour Act. 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.

CubeOS is built on a blockchain-based model. All messages, financial records, AI consultations, and transactions remain encrypted on the handset. Airtel only handles encrypted transport and cannot view content. Cube Card transactions are authenticated, encrypted, and settled on-chain without a centralized processor.

No African product currently combines hardware, payments, merchant card distribution, AI tools, zero-rated connectivity, and blockchain-based privacy. Competitors serve individual segments: Moniepoint and Opay provide payment services on centralized infrastructure; Tecno and Itel manufacture affordable hardware; mobile money platforms offer basic transactions but consume data. The Cube Phone is positioned as the first full-stack business device, replacing multiple subscriptions, services, and hardware investments with a single purchase.

The Cube Phone is a 6.5-inch NFC-enabled Android smartphone running CubeOS. It comes with 100 Cube Cards for contactless payments and the AI Business Suite with AI Legal, AI CFO, AI Coder, and AI HR. Year one targets are one million phones and 100 million Cube Cards, with Airtel Nigeria as the live carrier partner and MTN and Globacom in advanced discussion. The device is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and more information is available at egoras.com and cubephone.ng.