Epson introduces fast, compact and reliable printer to the local business community

Epson is targeting the Kenyan business community with the introduction of new set of printers into the local market. 

The introduction of the new compact dot matrix printers, LX-350, is aimed at helping Epson enhance its business footprint in the East African market in view of increased competition. 

The new printers, which will be retailing at Shs14000, are targeted at customers who are keen on reliable products that offer maximum productivity but at a lower cost. The LX-350 printers are ideal for commercial, industrial and logistic applications.

According to Epson Regional Sales Manager Mukesh Bector, the company is keen to enhance customer experience by not only introducing reliable products but also tailoring them to meet their day to day business needs.   

“The introduction of the new printers is in line with our plans to grow our business in the Kenyan market, which offers huge potential for growth,” he said. “Consumers especially in emerging markets like Sub-Saharan Africa have constantly expressed the need for saving money while going about their printing businesses, and at the same time increasing their productivity. The LX-350 ensures that these specific needs are met,” Mukesh added.

Epson has been aggressively increasing its business presence in the region with introduction of new products. Recently, the company introduced Label Works printers targeted at the retail market and ultra-short throw projector meant for learning institutions.  

Mukesh said the company’s business growth especially in the East African region will be driven by developing dedicated products for the local needs and enhancing customer experience by offering quality and reliable after sale service. 

The LX-350 printers are also qualified for excellent energy efficiency; this makes the range more economical to run, with power consumption of just over 1 watt in sleep mode and 24-27 watt when powered on.   

 “Reliable, compact and economical, the Epson LX-350 has all your printing needs covered. Small and light enough to be used almost anywhere, the LX-350 also has incredibly low power consumption, helping to keep your carbon emissions and running costs down”, said Mukesh. 

With its compact size and weight, the LX-350 fits neatly on a desk and is quite ideal where space may be limited. Moreover, this highly dependable printer has flexible connectivity options that ensure swift and simple integration with existing systems offering Parallel, Serial and USB interfaces as standard.

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SAFE WATER AND AIDS PROJECT (SWAP) DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER KNIGHTED

Access to clean safe drinking water has contributed to a decline in opportunistic diseases among HIV positive persons in the Nyanza region. This follows the introduction of water purification systems that have seen over 18,000 thousand families have been provided with clean water.

According to a study conducted by the Centre for Disease Control showed that HIV infected persons who drank clean water had less occurrences of diarrhoea and other opportunistic diseases.

Netherlands Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Joost Reintjes said that opportunistic infection in HIV infected persons has also decreased as communities can now utilise an inexpensive programme of providing safe water at point of use through treatment, safe storage and behaviour change.

Netherlands Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Joost Reintjes said that it was commendable that organizations such as Safe Water and AIDS Project (SWAP) supported the findings of the CDC by ensuring communities have clean drinking water.

The ambassador was speaking during the presentation of the Knight in the Order of Orange to Ms. Alie Eleveld who is Country Director with Safe Water and AIDS Project (SWAP) in Western Kenya. The honour is conferred on persons of Dutch origin who have rendered exceptional service to societies that they work in.  

Ms. Eleveld was honoured for the work including her ingenious development of baby and Family Care Centres which:  provide clean drinking water to communities as well as support them to commercially sell other Baby/Child/Maternal Life Improving Products and Services. Through a partnership with Procter & Gamble’s Purifier of Water (formerly Pur) brand over 3.5 million sachets of P&G purifier of water supplies translating to 35,571,180 liters of safe drinking water have been distributed to communities in Nyanza.

Commending Ms Eleveld, Procter & Gamble’s Sub-Sahara Communications Associate Director said that her efforts have enabled the company touch and improve more Kenyan lives.  “We are particularly proud of Ms. Eleveld’s ingenious initiative The Pampers Baby & Family Care Centre which has helped us reach more Kenyans by expanding the reach of our products. She has opened a world of possibilities to Kenyan communities through a simple commercial practice that has long term positive impacts while at the same time helping us reach more people’, said Ms. Khululiwe Mabaso.

Procter & Gamble and SWAP have been working together in Western Kenya to promote and sell water treatment and other health products as an income generating activity that also benefits the wider community

UAP GROUP RECORDS 44% RISE IN PROFITS

Pan-African Financial Services Group, UAP Holdings, has announced record profits for the year ended 31 December 2012. 

The Group’s Profit before Tax rose to Kshs 1.75 billion in 2012, up 44% from a profit of Kshs 1.21 billion recorded in 2011, while the Earnings Per Share increased by 34% from Kshs 7.35 per share in 2011 to Kshs 9.83 per share in 2012. 

This remarkable growth has been supported by growth of UAP businesses across the region due to the Group’s continued focus on streamlining its core businesses, product innovation and geographical expansion. During the year, the Group completed its entry into the Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) markets. As announced earlier, the Group is in the final stages of entry into the Tanzania market.

Announcing the results, UAP Group Managing Director Dominic Kiarie said new business growth along with investment gains propelled the group’s excellent performance.  

“Our 2012 results are a significant improvement over 2011 on all key measures, with excellent growth in profitability, driven by  strong growth in gross written premiums, investment income, and a material uplift in new business growth. Premiums have continued to grow due to growth in new business in existing and new geographical markets, diversification of existing and new products range  and enhanced business across all our distribution channels. Coupled with enhanced customer service including strong track record of claim settlements in our insurance business, new business has been strong.”

The Group’s comprehensive income grew to Kshs 2.1 billion, an increase of over 809%, driven the strong business growth and recovery of the stock markets, coupled with a well thought out strategy on diversification of the investment portfolio across key stable asset classes including properties and fixed income investments. 

“The Group is reaping benefits from its diversification strategy that has seen us grow from a pure play general insurance underwriter to a Financial Services Group with strong regional presence,” said Mr. Kiarie.  “The Group’s property development in Kampala, Uganda,  UAP Nakawa Business Park, which is a grade A prime  commercial development, contributed Kshs 430 million to the Group’s income.”

The Group’s real estate development portfolio, with 3 landmark developments in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan, is expected to continue contributing positively to the diversification of its investment portfolio and enhance the investment income. 

“These initiatives will ensure the diversification of the Group across key geographical markets and in its investment portfolio, and therefore deliver sustained and strong growth in earnings,” he said.

Stronger Balance Sheet

Group’s Total Assets increased by 70% to Kshs 24.6 billion driven by funds raised in 2012 from Private Equity Investors and the Public Offer of UAP Shares, and funds generated from the core business. Total liabilities increased by 32% mainly as a result of growth in insurance contract liabilities in line with the growth of the insurance underwriting business. The Group’s Shareholders funds increased by Kshs 6.2 billion due to the positive business performance and also the injection of Kshs 5 billion from the capital raising activities carried out by the Group in 2012. The Group posted a total return on shareholders funds of 49%.

“The decision to raise capital to support UAP’s pan-African expansion has began to yield positive benefits. The capital raised has strengthened the Group’s balance sheet, while laying an even stronger foundation for a strong and sustainable growth of the Group’s business going forward,” he added.

P&G Achieves Zero Manufacturing Waste at 45 Sites Worldwide

Innovative manufacturing solutions are cornerstone of P&G’s zero-waste vision

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), the Company behind consumer brands including Pampers^®, Ariel^®, Always^® and Gillette^® today announced that 45 of their facilities have now achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill, which marks a major step towards the Company’s long-term vision of sending zero manufacturing and c

onsumer waste to landfills. Over the past 5 years, P&G's work to find worth in waste has created over $1 billion in value for the company.

Bob McDonald, P&G President, CEO and Chairman of the Board said, “We have a vision for the future, where plants are powered by renewable energy, products are made from recycled and renewable materials and resources are conserved, with no waste going to landfill. Changing the way we see waste as a Company has brought us one step closer to this goal at 45 sites worldwide, where all of our manufacturing waste is recycled, repurposed or converted into energy.”

P&G announced its first zero manufacturing waste to landfill site in Budapest in 2007. Since then, the Company has shared a long-term Environmental Vision, pledging to work toward zero consumer and manufacturing waste worldwide. Through quality assurance, packaging reduction, compaction and recycling efforts, the company now ensures that 99% of all materials entering P&G plants leaves as finished product or is recycled, reused or converted to energy. Now, as the Company celebrates its 175th year, less than 1% of all materials entering P&G sites globally leaves as waste.

 

To drive all sites toward zero, P&G has searched for innovative ways to find value in what was once seen as waste. In Mexico, paper sludge from a Charmin toilet tissue plant is turned into low-cost roof tiles used to build homes in the local community. At a U.S. Pampers site, scrap from the wipe manufacturing process is converted to upholstery filling. And, in the U.K., waste created in the production of Gillette shaving foam is composted then used to grow turf for commercial uses.

“There are well-defined systems for recycling materials like paper, plastic and glass, but our product portfolio is incredibly broad, resulting in a diverse set of waste streams to find sustainable solutions for,” shared Dr. Forbes McDougall, who leads P&G’s global zero manufacturing waste program. “We focused on finding solutions for our toughest waste streams at our largest sites, and while initially we saw progress in our overall corporate recycling, the increase in zero landfill sites was slow. Today, we have found ways to divert most of our major waste streams away from landfill, so we’re now seeing new sites achieve zero manufacturing waste to landfill nearly every month.”

 

This announcement coincides with a Company-wide message to inspire employees and consumers to think differently about the everyday things they do and the surprisingly positive impact they can have on the environment.  Throughout April, P&G will share videos, infographics and insights through social media at https://www.facebook.com/PGKenya  and inviting others to share their stories. On April 22^nd, the Company will host the “P&G Sustainability Session: Sharing a Vision and Zeroing in on Waste,” featuring presentations from P&G Sustainability experts with time for discussion and Q&A. To register, visit http://www.cvent.com/d/qcqr7d

 

NOKIA AND MICROSOFT JOIN FORCES TO EMPOWER LOCAL TALENT WITH THE MIDNIGHT DEVELOPER CHALLENGE

Winners of the on-going Nokia and Microsoft’s mobile app development competition will be announced on May 6^th 2013.

The competition dubbed The Midnight Developer Challenge is aimed at providing university students with exposure and training in the latest mobile and app development technologies. The challenge will see university students from 25 Africa (Kenya included) and Middle East countries come up with the next big mobile app idea. Some of the African countries taking part include Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

The final submissions for the competition are expected to close this Thursday and the apps need to be published by mid-next month. The competition was launched in December last year and the participating students have been receiving advanced technical training and coding sessions with Nokia and Microsoft software experts through weekly webinars and dedicated online support to help them conceptualize their ideas.

 

Both Nokia and Microsoft have been working closely with the universities to ensure faculty support is provided for students who entered the competition.

Commenting on the competition, Head of Developer Experience, Nokia IMEA Joe Devassy said the challenge is providing students an opportunity to get real life experience in designing, developing and distributing a mobile app for consumers in an emerging app economy.

"We designed this competition to maximize the learning process of this entrepreneurial journey - that is, how to go from an abstract idea to a fully-developed Windows Phone 8 app available to millions of consumers worldwide," he added.

"This initiative, which empowers young local talent with world-class opportunities to develop and learn about the latest advances in mobile app technology, is testament to our commitment to the region. Windows Phone 8 is a great mobile platform and there is immense opportunity for developers to leverage and utilise the innovative features of the Nokia Lumia range including augmented reality navigation, NFC and imaging," said Amintas Lopes Neto, Academia and Startups Lead, Microsoft MEA.

The contest is divided into two categories - Apps and Games. Each category will have a winner and a runners-up prize. The winning team will walk away with $10,000, a trip to a Nokia Global event, plus an XBOX and Lumia 920 for each team member. The runner-up team will receive $5,000, an XBOX and a Lumia 920 for each team member.

Additionally there will be a People's Choice category, whereby the winner will receive $3,000 plus an XBOX and a Lumia 920 for each team member. Participants of The Midnight Developer Challenge also have the opportunity to be eligible to participate in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2013 Windows Phone Challenge - a high level global Window Phone app development contest organised by Microsoft.

Teams of up to three members were required to register online for The Midnight Developer Challenge. The apps and games must be developed using the newly released Windows Phone 8 SDK (Software Development Kit).

P&G AND CARE ANNOUNCE COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE 100 MILLION LITERS OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP

Over 18,000 thousand families have been provided with clean safe drinking water through Procter & Gamble’s Purifier of Water (formerly Pur) and Care Kenya’s Safe Water system program in Nyanza province reducing the occurrence of water borne diseases in the region.

 

This follows an earlier commitment by the two organizations to provide 100 million liters of clean safe drinking water in Kenya and Ethiopia through an investment of over $1 million dollars. The Safe Water System (SWS) is an inexpensive program of providing safe water at point of use through treatment, safe storage and behavior change. The system makes use of the P&G Purifier of Water sachet is a powdered mixture which purifies previously dirty and turbid water making it safe for drinking. SWS has so far provided  over 3.5 million sachets of P&G purifier of water supplies translating to 35,571,180 liters of safe drinking water to communities in Siaya, Gem, Ugunja and Ugenya and reaching out to  over 18,000 families.

 

Procter & Gamble Brand PR Manager Ms. Irene Mwathi said that the program continues to focus efforts on provision of clean drinking water through partnerships like the CARE schools program.

 

“Introducing the P&G Purifer of Water to children through school programs has a dramatic impact on the community-  the children are educated and empowered at an early age. They then take the benefits of  that knowledge back to their  home to their families. By investing in children, we enable them to make a difference every day in their communities,” said Ms. Mwathi.

 

The P&G program dubbed ‘Children’s Safe Drinking Water’ (CSDW) program was initiated in Kenya in 2006 to provide a solution to communities living in areas with water sources that are turbid. The program works with various implementing partners such as PSI and Care. In executing this particular program, CARE trains two teachers in each school as patrons of the program responsible for teaching improved hygiene behaviors, including hand washing, either directly or through school hygiene clubs. P&G then provides the sachets used to purify the water. The program provides over 17,000 liters of clean drinking water each day to students and their families.

 

"P&G and CARE have brought us a solution to our water problem, said Mr. Michael Ochieng Limbe, Head Teacher at Wambusa Primary School. “We are very pleased that now we have healthy school children free of dysentery.” Wambusa Primary is one of the 20 schools in the program.

 

An evaluation of the program identified a reduction in school absenteeism of more than 25 percent and because students took the messages home, there was nearly a 3-fold increase in household water treatment.

 

“P&G purifier of water is a simple, affordable and convenient   way to bring clean water to people,” explains Project Manager, Care Kenya. “CARE uses the P&G Purifer of Water packets to bring safe drinking water to homes, provide clean water to school children and help expectant mothers stay healthy and help prevent the spread of disease in Kenya, including HIV/AIDS.” He added “They are also an important part of our global emergency response programs”.

 

P&G’s collaboration supports CARE’s distribution of the water purification packets to reach over 350,000 people through community-based programs in schools and clinics in Kenya .

 

“The work being done through this partnership is a perfect example of our company’s Purpose in action,” said Ms. Mwathi. “P&G improves the lives of Kenyans through its innovative brands, dedicated employees, and educational and social programs made possible by partnership with others."

 

School, clinic and community programs are part of P&G’s long-term commitment to save one life every hour by providing clean drinking water around the world. These efforts were most recently recognized when P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program won the 2012 Economist Social Innovation Award for delivering more than 5 billion liters of clean drinking water to families in developing countries, helping save nearly 30,000 lives. The program has also received more than a dozen awards including: national inventor of the year award, popular mechanics breakthrough innovator awards, world technology awards among others. P&G has invested over $ 35 million (ksh 2.9 billion) towards this program since inception.