With our correspondent in Abidjan, Youenn Gourlay

Bénédicte Koffi came specially from Bouaké to buy a Superphone, which she has just configured in Baoulé language. The Superphone is a creation of the Ivorian group Cerco, a keyboardless telephone, presented as revolutionary because it is capable of performing any task just by speaking to it.

A phone accessible to almost all Ivorians since it responds to the simplest French words in local languages and directs the person to other applications. "Already, I'm able to do voice commands, that is to say I can access WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube without typing in any syntax or searching in the search bar. With my voice, I'm able to do whatever I want," explains Bénédicte Koffi.

The Superphone required seven years of work from the Ivorian company, but the idea was born 17 years ago in the mind of Alain Capo-Chichi, a computer science doctor and president of the Cerco group: "Both of my parents did not go to school, they cannot read or write, and very early on, I experienced the frustration a parent can feel when you hand him a letter and he cannot read or write. When I had the opportunity to do my doctoral thesis, all my hope was to find how to create a product to try to relieve these people."

In two weeks, the Ivorian brand says it has already sold thousands of models ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 CFA francs (approximately 45 to 90 euros).