‘Nigeria is among our top three focus countries’, says Canon

Canon, a Japanese digital imaging and optical products manufacturing company, says Nigeria is among its top three focus countries out of 97 countries for investment.

‘‘Nigeria is an important market for us. Out of 97 countries, Nigeria is in my top three focus countries for this year,” said Koji Sato, B2C Sales Development & marketing director, Canon Europe.

Sato disclosed this during the launch of the company’s two hero products, EOS 5D Mark IV camera and two E-series Pixma printers recently in Lagos.

Explaining why the country has its eyes on Nigeria, Somesh Adukia, regional sales director, Canon Middle East said Nigeria has growth potentials.

‘‘The population of this country makes it so optimistic for us.175million population, the largest country in Africa. The ratio of people from 20-40years is much higher in Nigeria than other countries which also make us more optimistic that these young educated Nigerian consumers will actually help the economy by creating new ways and means of doing business.

‘‘We are confident Nigerian economy will bounce back soon. Recently, the rate of the naira shows a positive turn. It has reached a level of 550 but today it’s at the rate of 390. This means things are getting improved.’’

Speaking on the occasion, Mahesh B Lalwani, Chairman, Jamaica Trading Company LLC, said: “Jamaica has always supported reliable brands to meet the needs of consumers as well as business customers in Nigeria.

‘‘Canon is a leader in the imaging and business solutions category in terms of technology, performance and range and events such as these not only strengthen business relationships but also serve as a platform to speak and acquaint stakeholders about the industry’s best offerings. The feedback we received from the event has been positive and we look forward to organising more of such events in partnership with Canon.”

The camera range unveiled includes models such as the EOS 80D, EOS760D, EOS 1300D, Powershot G7X MKII, PowerhShot SX720 HS, and the Ixus 285HS.

The powerful and refined printersrange includes: E-series of PIXMA printers – E474 and E414, G4400, TS 5040, TS9040, IE 414 and IE474. The much-anticipated EOS 5D Mark IV, the most recent addition to the legendary EOS 5D family, is now available in Nigeria.

With the contraction in consumer purchasing power and the fact that Nigerian consumers are sensitive about pricing, Somesh explained that the products are not only affordable but of good quality.

‘‘We have considered the needs of the African consumers and we have given them options not just with one or two, and we have made these options not only affordable but easy to use and also good looking and stylish that can be showcased at home and at the office. With one set of bottle you can print up to 6,000 pages and 7,000 coloured pages. This is something that is highest in the industry and no other competitors offers this high printing,’’ Somesh adds.

Since launching into the Nigerian market in October 2016, Canon says it has made tremendously progress and expressed optimism that they will succeed in Nigeria and Africa at large with the strategies they have put in place.

‘‘We had to establish our own organisation in Nigeria because we had to understand the people and the only way we can understand the people is to speak the same language,’’ said Roman Troethandl, managing director, Canon Central and North Central Africa.

On why Canon’s products are so strong, Sato says, ‘We have been spending so much money on research and development. We constantly spend more than $300m worth of research and development investment which is almost 8 to 9 percent of the total annual turnover of the country. It’s a huge investment to the superior cutting edge technology.’’

Continuing, he said, ‘‘Canon is a very financial strong company. Our annual turnover last year was almost close to $30bn and we made $1.3bn net profit. This is a remarkable number’’

CHINWE AGBEZE