Research In Motion (RIM), designer and manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, has improved its distribution capacity in Africa through an agreement with Brightstar Corp., a US-based global services company.

Expanding its global operations into Africa, Brightstar will begin distributing BlackBerry products to seven countries in the Sub-Sahara Africa region, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Through its distribution centres and staff in Africa, Brightstar will initially distribute the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphones, in addition to BlackBerry software and accessories. The BlackBerry smartphones will be available from various network operators and retail outlets throughout Sub-Sahara Africa.

“We are pleased to further our relationship with Brightstar in order to expand our reach in the market. We look forward to working with Brightstar to bring more BlackBerry smartphones to more countries in Africa,” said Deon Liebenberg, regional director for Sub-Sahara Africa at RIM.

“This expanded agreement underscores the strategic nature of our alliance with RIM and our growing global presence within the industry,” said Arturo Osorio, president for the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions at Brightstar. “We look forward to taking our customised channel solutions and insights and working together to bring a larger portfolio of BlackBerry smartphones into this new market.”

In addition to Africa, Brightstar currently distributes BlackBerry products to network operators, retailers and value-added resellers (VARs) in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.