On Friday, 7th of October 2016, imaging solution vendor, Canon, made an entry into West Africa by setting up its first local office in Nigeria. This move, which has been long overdue, will strengthen Canon’s regional operation and presence in Nigeria.
“We have to succeed in Africa and we won’t be able to do so without being in Nigeria,” said Koji Sato.
The presence in Nigeria will provide Canon the opportunity to gain in-depth reach across Africa and better understand the changing market dynamics and customer demand. The Nigerian company will be called Canon Nigeria Imaging Solutions Limited and it will be located in the financial hub of Nigeria, Lagos.
This comes at a time when other foreign investors are exiting the Nigerian market due to stringent monetary policies put in place by the government. Although there are fears over Canon opening it’s office in Nigeria due to inability to repatriate funds, the company believes that the situation of the country will not remain like this forever as it is well prepared for the current economic situation facing the country.
Why did they choose Nigeria?
Koji Sato, while addressing members of the press said that Nigeria is a big young population with potentials. They have also noticed that Nigerians love photography and images.
This is coming at a time when the business of photography is becoming more and more lucrative in the country. About a decade ago the trend of having a photo shoot for almost everything was minimal. However that has changed now as Nigerians now have a culture of taking pictures for every activity that happens in their lives which includes pre-wedding photo shoot, photo shoot to show “baby bump” shoot and photo shoot after child delivery. Photography is now taken as a professional job as many of the youth in the country who are unemployed now use it as a means to make money. Nowadays people spend a minimum of 200,000 for a pre wedding photo shoot, which has become the order of the day. The entry of Canon into Nigeria is also great news for Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood, which is the third largest film industry in the world after Hollywood and Bollywood.
How will Canon operate in Nigeria?
The newly set up entity in Nigeria will be under the directives of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA)’s office in Dubai. The entity will also include two Country Managers who will oversee the provision of on-ground support to tier 1 distributors across Nigeria. CCNA also intends to appoint five Channel Account Managers in Nigeria in 2017 in order to support its Tier 2 Dealer network and enhance the brand presence and visibility in the market.
The company will be partnering with Tenaui Africa Ltd to open its dedicated showroom for B2B solutions in Nigeria. It will also be working with MFI International group. Canon already has a long-standing partnership with MFI International group for the distribution of Canon products, after sales services and MPS solution across Sub Saharan Africa.
Quick facts about Canon
- Canon has strong commitment to technology and quality. As of 2015 Canon spent $2,714 million on Research and Development. It also ranked third on the 2015 top 10 US patent Holders.
- It has a strong financial background and scale of business. In 2015 it had net sales of $31,407 million and net Income of $1,820 million.
- The company has spent $2.6 trillion in Africa in B2B solution
- Canon has 189,571 Employees and 317 subsidiaries
- Canon has a strong global market share. In the first half of 2016, Canon had 41 percent share o the digital Camera market.