• Reaffirming its Commitment to Long-Term Partnerships: Canon’s Exclusive Event Focused on Technological Advancements and Market growth in Egypt
• Canon’s strategic return to Egypt delivered an immersive visual experience, featuring dedicated zones for key verticals: Commercial Print, In-House Production, Corporate, Education, Retail, CAD, and Interior Décor.

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) (www.Canon-CNA.com), a leader in imaging technology, hosted an exclusive event named- ‘The Innovation Summit’ in Cairo, Egypt on 18 and 19 February. This exclusive gathering for business partners and end-customers underscored Canon’s commitment to strengthening relationships and enhancing customer experience with key partners, reaffirming its leadership in the Egyptian printing market, and showcasing cutting-edge technological advancements that drive innovation and efficiency.

As Egypt’s print industry continues its evolution—driven by digital transformation, rising demand for high-quality production, and increasing investments in automation—Canon’s presence in the market remains pivotal. The country’s commercial printing sector is projected to grow significantly, with the digital printing market expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% during the forecast period (https://apo-opa.co/4k6AxSD). Event like ‘The Innovation Summit’ plays a crucial role in bridging technology with business needs, offering tailored solutions that empower partners across various industries. This platform enabled Canon to reinforce its leadership in Egypt’s printing market, showcase its advanced solutions, and demonstrate its unwavering commitment to seamless workflow integration, industry-specific innovations, and expanding its dealer and distribution network to ensure greater accessibility.

Amine Djouahra, B2B Business Unit Director at Canon Central and North Africa, shared: “At Canon, we are committed to empowering our partners and customers by providing innovative solutions that drive efficiency and enable customisation across industries. This event is a testament to our ‘Master the Basics’ strategy in action—strengthening our presence, enhancing service excellence, and delivering value-driven solutions. By showcasing our cutting-edge technologies, we are equipping businesses with the essential tools to thrive in digital printing and meet the evolving demands of various industry verticals.”

The event was designed to deliver an engaging, hands-on experience across four key zones, each strategically curated to highlight Canon’s expertise in different industry verticals:

• Commercial Print Zone: Focused on high-volume digital printing, this zone showcased the Canon imagePRESS V1350 (https://apo-opa.co/4bb3c5i), illustrating Canon’s role as a partner in digital transformation. Designed for government institutions, commercial print centers, publishing houses, and media companies, it highlighted seamless offset-to-digital workflow integration, advanced Color management, and scalable solutions tailored to business growth.
• Central Print Room: Designed for in-house production efficiency, this zone featured the Canon imagePRESS V900 (https://apo-opa.co/4b6JRlE), emphasizing Canon’s market-leading expertise in supporting businesses with cost-effective, sustainable, and high-performance print strategies. Targeted at entry-level printing houses and in-house production teams, it reinforced Canon’s commitment to optimizing operational workflows.
• CAD & Retail Zone: Showcasing the Canon imagePROGRAF TM-350 (https://apo-opa.co/4bb3cCk), this section highlighted technical precision and visual impact, demonstrating end-to-end CAD/GIS workflows and the value of technical drawings. AEC companies and print service providers (PSPs) for posters and POS print solutions engaged in live demonstrations of Canon’s technical printing capabilities.
• Interior Decor Zone: Canon’s flagship printing solutions, the Colorado series (https://apo-opa.co/41orZzt) and the Arizona series (https://apo-opa.co/4b4mA3H), were highlighted in this interactive experience, designed for signage and graphic producers, as well as indoor and outdoor décor specialists. Guests had the opportunity to order personalized wallpaper printed on the Colorado, which was later delivered to their homes.
• Photobooth Zone: This dedicated zone showcased Canon’s complete workflow from input to output. Using the EOS R system (https://apo-opa.co/3CVFAos) for image capture and the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO series (https://apo-opa.co/41l3HpZ) for high-quality printing, attendees experienced a seamless, hands-on demonstration of Canon’s imaging and printing capabilities in action.

A key highlight of the event was the exclusive awards, recognizing the outstanding contributions of long-standing partners and customers. Awards were presented in three prestigious categories: Long-Service Customers with Canon, High Print Volume Customers, and Selected Canon Partners with proven commitment and excellence. These accolades reinforced Canon’s dedication to nurturing strong, long-term partnerships that drive market success.

With customer experience at the heart of this year’s strategy, ‘The Innovation Summit’ was a testament to its commitment to empowering businesses with transformative technology. By delivering unparalleled hands-on engagement, fostering deeper industry connections, and enabling partners to harness the full potential of Canon’s innovations, the event cemented Canon’s position as the preferred brand for business growth in Egypt’s evolving print landscape.

Ask any traveler about their experience moving across parts of Africa, and you will likely hear about familiar challenges: high costs, indirect routes, and unpredictable schedules that can make even the simplest journeys more complicated and costly. These travel hurdles highlight the immense opportunity to further strengthen Africa’s integration and unlock seamless connectivity across the continent.

The potential is undeniable. According to the World Bank, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) stands to be the world’s largest free trade zone, encompassing 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of 3.4 trillion USD. The African Development Bank projects that eliminating existing barriers could double intra-African trade within a decade from its current 15%; a figure that pales in comparison to Asia’s 60% and Europe’s 65%. Despite meaningful progress through the AfCFTA implementation led by regional economic communities, fulfilling this promise will require more efforts. Namely, Africa requires robust physical infrastructure and an operating system update to modernize institutional frameworks and encourage a new ecosystem of African-made goods and services.

Africa’s integration challenge can be likened to building a cutting-edge computer system. Success first requires powerful hardware: the physical infrastructure forming the backbone. Currently, the continent faces an annual infrastructure financing gap between 130 and 170 billion USD to meet essential hardware requirements across transportation corridors, energy networks, and digital highways. While our international partners have historically played a crucial role In bridging this financing gap, the current geopolitical landscape demands a paradigm shift. Africa must take the lead in investing in its own hardware.

The key lies in mobilizing African public and private capital first to build confidence among international partners and investors. Substantial capital can be generated within the continent through sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, high-net-worth individuals, and other sources. Development finance institutions like the African Development Bank must also play a transformative role by leveraging their expertise and credit ratings to channel this locally sourced capital into Africa’s development. The Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), launched by the African Development Bank in partnership with Africa50 and the African Union, exemplifies this approach, mobilizing project preparation and project development blended capital to build a 10 billion USD portfolio of green infrastructure projects with private sector participation from Africa and around the world. Regional energy integration, as highlighted by Mission 300 launched recently in Tanzania, is equally important.

Beyond physical infrastructure, Africa’s integration requires modern software upgrades: the systems, policies, and institutional frameworks that power trade across borders. Digital solutions are key to enhancing business operations across borders and reducing trade barriers. While discussions often focus on physical infrastructure gaps, outdated manual processes frequently limit the effectiveness of existing assets. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) exemplifies this transformation, promising to save 5 billion USD annually by making cross-border payments simpler and more transparent. Moreover, pilot programs in East Africa have shown that applying blockchain technology to existing value chains could help reduce trade costs by 20%, enhance protection against fraud, and expand access to new markets for businesses across the continent.

As African leaders convene at the AU Summit in Addis, we are at a pivotal time that requires action : the finalization of the Protocol on Digital Trade under the AfCFTA is a first step towards the bold transformation that we must operate. We must pursue economic transformation through infrastructure development and technology integration in our trade operations to evolve from a raw material exporter into an industrial and agricultural powerhouse. Beyond manufacturing value-added goods and value creation, our ability to integrate essential services -financial services, transport and logistics, education, and healthcare- will facilitate seamless business operations across borders. By positioning economic transformation at the heart of our integration agenda, Africa can advance up the value chain to generate wealth and create quality economic opportunities for all Africans, particularly our youth and women.

With Africa’s youth population set to double by 2050, the urgency of this transformation cannot be overstated. By effectively mobilizing our own resources first, driving economic transformation, and building both the required software and hardware, we can successfully integrate Africa. This is Africa’s moment to move beyond being the world’s largest free trade area by membership to becoming its most dynamic and innovative economic powerhouse.