By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor

Managing Director for Canon Central & North Africa CCNA, Somesh Adukia is an expert in creating a vision for Sales and marketing strategies. His duty in Canon includes determining strategic business direction and executing plans in business areas covering most of North and Sub-Sahara Africa including Nigeria. He has set out to make Nigeria the hub of Canon business in Africa. He spoke to  Hi-Tech  on his plans to make photography not only fun but also a way of life for Nigerians.

Excerpts:

You opened office in Nigeria when so many companies were moving away. Why the risk?

Yes in 2016 when we opened office in Nigeria many others were leaving. Apparently they didn’t see what we saw or they didn’t know what we know. In any case, you can’t achieve much in business without taking a risk. But in our case, we took a calculated risk. We opened office because you can’t develop a market of 250 million people, sitting in a head office somewhere far away

Why is Nigeria a focus market for Canon?

Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people with a vibrant movie industry that produces 50 movies per week, generating annual revenue of approximately $590 million, according to a recent research by the UN.   In light of these statistics, Canon is committed towards investing in Nigeria and exploring this growing market. 

What are some of the initiatives Canon has undertaken in Nigeria and how has it been of economic impact to Nigerians?

We are applying a ‘closer to customer’ strategy we have established for our local presence in Nigeria. We are continuously supporting the arts industry, photographers and film makers with workshops as well as trainings growing arts industry in Nigeria. We believe Nigieria’s photography arts and the printing sector is poised to grow leaps and bounds hence our focus in making photography a way of life for Nigerians.

Are there specific empowerment initiatives?

  In keeping to our culture of promoting young talent, we unveiled our ‘Student Development Programme’ for 2021 for the fifth consecutive year. An initiative designed to supplement young photographers with a real-time experience of working with an industry expert, this life-changing opportunity is presented to 250 students from across Europe, Middle East and Africa. As a result, each candidate including candidates from Nigeria are able to participate in a unique and bespoke educational programme designed to enhance students’ visual storytelling skills thereby advancing their careers.

We also have tapped in to Nigerian professional photographers through our ambassador program. This program is aimed at helping future generations of photographers and filmmakers by sharing their passion and technical know-how with fellow professionals, as well as enthusiastic amateurs who want to develop their skills. Among the Nigerian professional photographers whom we are working with are  Emmanuel Oyeleke, Yagazi Emezi agazie  among others.

Through our Miraisha programme, we are promoting job opportunities and future livelihoods in Nigeria by offering workshops to photographers, videographers, film-makers and print business owners to enhance and support their skill sets. We have done this through collaborations with Yaba College of Technology and Lagos Photo Festival.

Just recently, we collaborated with PEEXO, a photography hub in Nigeria as part of our commitment to inspire the next generation of image makers.

Our most recent collaboration to underscore our commitment not only in Nigeria but to education is our partnership with UNILAG where we commissioned an imaging space at UNILAG to support student creativity and to enhance their skills.

AI-camera based Smartphones are eating into your camera market, are you not afraid of extinction?

That’s true, but the need for DSLR camera is different. The user is expecting a different result that the smartphone camera can’t give no matter how good.

Besides, we are continuously innovating and improving our products by keeping with the latest trends, to enable young professionals enhance their skills and talents. We let them access the latest technology of cameras and printers. We continue to deliver best-in-class optical technology and imaging products from input to output for consumers, business and professionals alike.

We have also made sustainable efforts to improve our remote service capabilities by designing virtual conferences that encourage our partners in Nigeria receive optimum training to operate and implement services such as e-Service and e-Maintenance thereby ensuring seamless and unobstructed support to its customers.

  We have established our local presence via our rep office and appointed a full Nigerian team of channel and business development managers to cater to each segment within the market.

What’s your market share in the DSLR market in Nigeria?

  We control more than 60 percent market share in the DSLR camera. Our campaigns worked perfectly. First we opened offices in Lagos, Abuja, and Portharcourt. We hired over 15 persons all locals to man the offices and run the activities. Second, we built distribution channels and allowed those channels to move our products into the nooks and crannies. Third, we began to invest in company visibity and brand campaigns and in all of these, we have used Nigerians.

So, I can tell you today that our greatest investment is in people; by empowering and providing skills and talents in Nigeria. Nigeria is our biggest market and our plan has always been to use the country as a base to service all Africa and emerging markets.