ABUJA, Nigeria (XOL Africa) — Nigerian engineer and entrepreneur Ndubuisi Ekekwe is preparing to launch a blockchain-based smartphone alongside a new securities-market infrastructure that aims to combine secure communications, financial services and investment access on a single platform.
Ekekwe, founder of ContiSX Securities Exchange Plc, said the ContiSX Phone is available for preorder ahead of its planned October launch. The company’s website currently lists the device at ₦550,000, with lower per-unit prices for larger orders.
The phone is being positioned not simply as a communications device but as the hardware gateway to the wider ContiSX ecosystem. The company says it will provide encrypted messaging, voice and video communications, alongside access to its financial-market services.
ContiSX says the device uses a dedicated secure enclave to isolate cryptographic keys and supports on-device biometric authorisation. Its advertised specifications include a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, 5G connectivity, 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM and a 5,000mAh battery.
The company is also developing a suite of services around the phone, including ContiSX Mail, Audio and Video, as well as ContiSX Shield for security alerts, Decision Lab for business intelligence, Boardroom for corporate governance and a Business Suite covering functions such as accounting, payroll and inventory management.
A key part of the proposition is the link to ContiSX’s planned securities exchange. The company says users will be able to access its exchange and central securities depository without telecommunications data charges for core ContiSX services for one year.
Ekekwe said the arrangement is intended to reduce one of the barriers to participation in Nigeria’s capital markets.
“When we launch Contisx Securities Exchange, you will not need data to buy stocks, FGN bonds and other investment products within our ecosystem,” he said in a LinkedIn post. He described the approach as part of ContiSX’s broader investment-inclusion strategy.
ContiSX says its exchange is designed to cover equities, bonds, ETFs, money-market instruments and other asset classes, with public and private-market infrastructure and access through web, mobile and television platforms.
The company has previously said it received Approval-in-Principle from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a securities exchange, while working towards meeting the remaining regulatory requirements. Ekekwe had initially targeted a September 2026 launch.
ContiSX’s website now lists October 19, 2026 as its launch date. Ekekwe has also referred to an event at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja on that date, although the company has not publicly disclosed all details of what will be unveiled there.
The shift from a planned securities exchange into a broader technology ecosystem reflects Ekekwe’s background in semiconductor engineering and his stated ambition to combine financial-market infrastructure with locally developed technology.
The phone is currently being marketed at ₦550,000 for a single unit, with the company offering a price of ₦500,000 for orders of two to five devices and ₦450,000 for six or more.
ContiSX says shipments will begin on October 19, with Nigeria as the initial market before expansion to the African diaspora and other international users.
For Ekekwe, the project represents an attempt to connect three areas that have traditionally operated separately: secure digital communications, financial-market infrastructure and access to investment products.
For XOL Africa, the broader question is whether ContiSX can translate that integrated technology proposition into a functioning regulated market infrastructure capable of attracting issuers, investors and financial institutions at scale.
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