When Canon Europe’s Head of Emerging Markets Business Visited Nigeria

With the aim of strengthening business opportunity and reaffirming Canon’s commitment to the region, Canon Europe’s Head of Emerging Markets Business Unit, Stefano Zenti recently arrived in Nigeria. During his visit Stefano has met the winners of the #MyNaija competition along with the local industry leaders and customers in a visit focused around Canon’s commitment to investing and expanding its presence in Nigeria.

Stefano will also be discussing how Canon can work more closely with the local companies, as the role of technology over the years has significantly transformed the lives of the people in Nigeria. Canon has always been operating in Africa through a network of distributors for more than 50 years, but in 2015 Canon took the strategic decision to establish Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) to enhance Canon’s business within the African region and strengthen Canon’s in-country presence and focus.

Stefano Zenti, Canon Europe’s Head of Emerging Markets Business Unit commented; “I am truly excited to be in Nigeria which remains an important market for Canon Europe. The country is on a growth trajectory and the economy has shown significant improvement in all major sectors, especially the non-oil sector. Given the current momentum and as per International Monetary Fund projections the Nigerian economy could expand to 2.1 percent in 2018 which gives a positive economic outlook of the country .”

“Driven by our Canon philosophy of “KYOSEI”, we are creating new value for our customers through investing in “in-country presences” in key African countries. The team is also excited to see the response that #MyNaija campaign has received in Nigeria as Canon continues to encourage young talents catering to their technical as well as support-related needs”, Stefano further added.

As part of Canon’s "Closer to Customer" strategy, Canon announced the launch of the biggest brand campaign in Nigeria “#MyNaija #Liveforthestory” campaign. The aim of the campaign was to position Canon as a story telling brand. The campaign also encouraged Nigerians to share more stories, by capturing the essence of what being Nigeria means to them.

Roman Troedthandl Managing Director of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) said: “We are happy to have Stefano visit us as Canon continue to be passionate about growing its presence and investments in Nigeria where imaging solutions are embraced.”

Since the launch of its direct operation, Canon has continuously strengthened its presence in Nigeria through setting up a local office with a Nigerian staffed team, appointing local service partners to expand its servicing network, as well as increasing investments in hosting talent driven workshops and coaching seminars.

In 2014, Canon launched the Miraisha Sustainability programme which is aimed at building the capacity and skills of people in the African countries in which we operate via leveraging the company’s advanced technological strengths and imaging heritage. Miraisha is a combination of the Japanese word ‘Mirai’, which means Future and the Swahili word ‘Maisha’, which means Livelihood.

The programme has supported people in developing livelihoods in professional photography or print and to date, through the programme, we have trained more than 5,000 students on photography skills and over 30 printing businesses.