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How Choosing the Right Printer Helps Small Businesses and Content Creators

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printer

The compact Wi-Fi, refillable All-in-One Canon PIXMA G3411 printer is clearly ideal, with high yield inks for low-cost home or business printing from smart devices and the Cloud

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, August 8, 2022/APO Group/ — 

Any small business owner will tell you – time is a precious, and finite resource. Not having enough of it, is often one of the biggest stumbling blocks to achieving optimum business growth.

African business owners are adopting technologies that make their lives easier and give them more time to focus on customer service and new orders. Many work long hours, tackling operational and administrative tasks after the workday ends. That steals time from family, friends, and self-care.

The Canon PIXMA G series printers were designed with both home and office users in mind. Achieving an impressive 85% average saving on the total cost of ownership versus the top 10 laser and inkjet printers, these continuous ink printers are dependable, deliver quality results at low cost, and incorporate user-friendly features to ensure a flawless printing experience.

When combined with Canon’s Print Hub, your first point of call to find a fountain of knowledge to make the most from your Canon printer, your imagination is the only limitation to achieving increased creativity, productivity and realigning your operations at home and at work to give you back precious time, every day.

How Choosing the Right Printer Helps Small Businesses and Content Creators to Save Time, Maximise Productivity and Achieve Growth

Choosing Efficiency and Greater Productivity to Fuel Growth

Mark Henrietta Ogochukwu (https://bit.ly/3P8MfLQ), a cake baker and food blogger from Lagos, Nigeria, creates masterpieces worthy of a coffee-table book. Her sumptuous creations require hard work, creativity, and long hours. It requires patience and fewer distractions. “We’re always looking for ways to save time and improve our processes,” she explains.

Her team wasted a lot of time coordinating and outsourcing their printing needs. High volume printing costs, such as cake baking instruction manuals for her classes and workshops, hurt the business’s profitability. Urgent client requests with printing components were difficult to accept, which meant turning away business, something you never want to do in your growth phase.

Rather than battling the Lagos traffic and relying on printing vendors who were expensive and didn’t always understand the urgency of the jobs, Ogochukwu decided to bring her printing in-house and it has made a tangible difference to her business. “For any growing business like mine, there comes a point when you have to carefully invest in amenities that will nurture the growth by making the business more agile.”

The Canon PIXMA G series printers were designed with both home and office users in mind

“We chose the Canon Pixma G3411 printer, and it has been a blessing in many ways for my business as we no longer need to run around to get our prints outsourced. It has also provided lucrative benefits such as high-volume printing, impeccable quality, and lower costs. Any of us can connect to the printer, from anywhere, through Canon’s printing app which allows us to be even more efficient and productive.”

High on Performance, Low on Budget

The Campus Sports Club has grown significantly since it opened in 2014. What began as a few football courts and competitions has expanded to serve children and adults. Members can learn martial arts, gymnastics, basketball, football, and more, and the club offers birthday parties, edutainment workshops, and summer camps. Abdelhakim El Arjoun’s vision as a director in 2016 led to the club’s growth.

Every business owner wants growth, but it comes with obstacles. El Arjoun’s operational and administrative duties increased. It also required printing receipts of vendor quotes, invoices, cheques, and new equipment instructions, children’s absence charts for each activity and sport session, program schedules, invitations, policy and internal regulatory documents, business plans, wage slips, and more. The club initially invested in a printer from another leading company, however it did not yield beneficial results when it came to the print quality or cost-savings. The club still faced issues with color-printing and had to resort to printing its letterheads with another printing-provider which became an expensive activity as the club intensified its offerings rather quickly.

El Arjoun realized that besides the ability to print quickly in black and white, and color, in high volume one of his key requirements really was to get solid in-store advice and reliable after-sales service. In June 2021, the Canon Pixma G3411 printer caught his eye, and it has been meeting the club’s requirements ever since.  The integrated ink-tanks along with the hybrid-ink system allows for maximum printing productivity while the smart connectivity feature with Canon printing app allows ease of use to the employees without being tied to their desktops or laptops for printing.

Achieving work and life balance

While businesses are increasing their reliance on powerful in-house printers, there has also an uptake in the demand for at-home printers capable of handling schoolwork, and work-from home requirements.

Asma Mekni (https://bit.ly/3BOFjkg) is a mother and content creator who juggles work and family. Bloggers spend hours perfecting their content to match their audiences’ tastes and researching trending topics. Young mothers lack time. To strike a balance, I had to find ways to keep my child engaged in activities he would enjoy and find time to do what I love. With the help of the Canon PIXMA G3411 printer, I was able to print activity charts and coloring books at home for my child, which unlocked great potential.

The printer proved invaluable when the pandemic broke, allowing Mekni to continue creating content that emulated her child’s school environment and provided hours of fun entertainment without buying activity books. She loves its quality and how Canon’s Print Hub (https://bit.ly/3Ae7WWZ) helps new users learn about printer features.

As demonstrated by Mark Henrietta, El Arjoun, and Asma Mekni, the compact Wi-Fi, refillable All-in-One Canon PIXMA G3411 printer is clearly ideal, with high yield inks for low-cost home or business printing from smart devices and the Cloud. Businesses can now save money with unrivaled page yields and low-cost printing of high-quality documents and vivid photos, as well as simple smart device and cloud connectivity, thanks to the Canon PIXMA G-Series.

Create it, snap it, style it, print it – get creative with Canon’s wide range of printers. Whether you are looking for useful ‘how to videos’, case studies, creative ideas, or you’re ready for a print challenge, we have it all. Click here to learn more! (https://bit.ly/3A42C8c)

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA).

Business

Afreximbank Posts Robust Q1 2026 Results with 25% Growth in Net Income and Improved Profitability

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Afreximbank

The results demonstrate continued resilience, disciplined balance sheet management and strong deal execution despite a challenging global operating environment

The growth in net interest income and profitability demonstrates the strength of our operating model and the continued relevance of our mandate

CAIRO, Egypt, May 22, 2026/APO Group/ –African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or the “Bank”) (www.Afreximbank.com) and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) announced its results for the three months ended 31 March 2026. The results demonstrate continued resilience, disciplined balance sheet management and strong deal execution despite a challenging global operating environment.

 

The Group continued to expand its lending activities in Q1 2026, resulting in total credit exposure growing by 2% to reach a portfolio of US$42 billion, up from US$41 billion as of 31 December 2025. This performance reflects Afreximbank’s leading role as a Development Finance Institution (DFI) in financing trade and trade-enabling infrastructure, and its strategic contribution to economic resilience across Africa and the Caribbean.

Average loans and advances for Q1 2026 stood at US$32 billion, up 8% compared to the same period in the prior year, driving the recorded growth in interest income. The Group’s liquidity position remained strong, with cash and cash equivalents of US$5.6 billion, representing 14% of total assets, consistent with FY2025 and above the Bank’s strategic minimum.

Asset quality also remained strong, with the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at 2.40%, broadly in line with 2.43% at FY2025 and below industry average.

Shareholders’ funds increased to US$8.6 billion at 31 March 2026, up from US$8.4 billion at FY2025, supported by internally generated capital of US$268.9 million and new equity investments received during the quarter, underscoring the Bank’s continued ability to mobilise capital from its shareholders in support of its growth and development mandate.

The Group delivered strong profitability during the quarter.  Notwithstanding declining benchmark rates, total interest income rose by 14% year-on-year to reach US$813.6 million, while net interest income increased by 24% to US$510.0 million, compared with US$411.2 million in the first quarter of 2025. The Group’s cost-to-income ratio remained contained at 19%, well within the Group’s strategic ceiling of 30%. As a result, Profit for the period increased to US$268.9 million, up from US$215.4 million in Q1 2025.

The Group continued to maintain a strong capital position, with a capital adequacy ratio of 23% as at 31 March 2026, in line with the Bank’s long-term capital management targets.

During the quarter, Afreximbank continued to demonstrate its counter-cyclical role in response to external shocks. In March 2026, the Bank launched a US$10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Programme to help member countries mitigate adverse spillover effects from the Gulf crisis. The facility is designed to support liquidity, stabilise trade and payments, and address supply-side disruptions, particularly in energy, tourism and aviation, fertilisers, food and other critical imports.

The Bank also continued to deploy targeted financing and advisory support to strengthen trade flows, industrial capacity and economic resilience across Africa and CARICOM. Regional integration received further momentum following South Africa’s ratification of the Bank’s Establishment Agreement in February 2026, bringing one of Africa’s largest and most diversified economies into the Bank’s membership and giving the Bank full continental coverage.

Highlights of the results for Afreximbank Group are shown below:

Financial Performance Metrics

Q1’2026

Q1’2025

Gross Income (US$ million)

874.1

784.9

Net Income (US$ million)

268.9

215.4

Return on average equity (ROAE)

13%

12%

Return on average assets (ROAA)

2.62%

2.38%

Cost-to-income ratio

19%

16%

 

Financial Position Metrics

Q1’2026

FY’2025

Total Assets (US$ billion)

41.7

42.3

Total Liabilities (US$ billion)

33.0

33.9

Shareholders’ Funds (US$ billion)

8.6

8.4

Non-performing loans ratio (NPL)

2.40%

2.43%

Cash/Total assets

14%

14%

Capital Adequacy ratio (Basel II)

23%

          23%

 

Mr. Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s Senior Executive Vice President, commented:

“Against a backdrop of continued global uncertainty, heightened geopolitical risks and tight financial conditions, the Group delivered a resilient first-quarter performance, underpinned by disciplined balance sheet management, sound asset quality and strong capital and liquidity buffers. The growth in net interest income and profitability demonstrates the strength of our operating model and the continued relevance of our mandate. Our swift launch of the US$10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Programme further underscores Afreximbank’s counter-cyclical role in supporting member countries during periods of disruption. We remain focused on stabilising trade flows, easing liquidity pressures and advancing the industrial and economic transformation of Africa and the Caribbean.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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Via Licensing Alliance Expands Voice Codec Program with New Licensee, New Licensors, Publishes Comprehensive Pool Rate Structure

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Via Licensing Alliance

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES – Media OutReach Newswire – 22 May 2026 – Via Licensing Alliance (Via) today announced continued momentum for its Voice Codec patent pool, including the addition of a new unnamed licensee and new licensors, NovaVoice Limited and Cordial IP, further growing the program’s patent stack and market penetration from its initial five, large global licensors.

The addition of the new licensee, unnamed at this time, reflects growing industry adoption of the collaborative licensing pathway Via’s Voice Codec program creates for accessing IP rights to critical voice technologies. This addition reflects a growing market uptake of advanced voice technologies, including EVS and IVAS, driven by rising demand as 5G and 5G-Advanced technologies are adopted worldwide.

Additionally, Via continues to prioritize transparency and has published its full rate structure for the Voice Codec pool, providing further clarity and predictability for implementers and to the broader market. For implementers, the full rate structure allows for complete visibility as they consider the appropriate royalty structure to choose from to meet their product level costs, evaluate future growth paths for their product lines, or plan their geographical expansion plan needs. This level of disclosure not only reduces uncertainty in licensing decisions but also enables more consistent benchmarking, reinforcing confidence in fair, market-aligned SEP licensing practices. The program’s royalty rates are listed on Via’s website at https://www.via-la.com/licensing-programs/voice-codec/#license-fees.

The addition of the new licensors indicates increased interest from patent holders in licensing their voice technology SEPs through highly efficient, aggregated licensing vehicles such as patent pools. Future growth in both the licensor list and the number of patents consolidated through the pool license will continue to enhance the value of the Voice Codec License for implementers. Via’s Voice Codec program licensors are listed here: https://www.via-la.com/licensing-programs/voice-codec/#licensors.

Via’s Voice Codec pool covers Enhanced Voice Services (EVS), which supports voice communications across more than one billion and growing active devices globally, as well as Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS), which will play a central role in next-generation voice and spatial audio applications.

“We are pleased to welcome these new entrants to our pool, which signal continued growth and momentum our Voice Codec program,” said Kevin Mack, President of Via Licensing Alliance. “This pool license offers strong value relative to other market options and represents the only collaborative licensing solution for EVS and IVAS technologies, making it a smart and efficient pathway for companies seeking to license critical voice capabilities.”

EVS remains a foundational technology for high-quality voice communications in 5G and 5G-Advanced networks, with adoption continuing to expand as 5G, 5G-Advanced and future network iterations reach global scale. As spatial audio and advanced voice technologies expand into 6G and a broader range of non-cellular devices, the importance of IVAS technologies is expected to increase, with Via’s pool offering an early and effective licensing pathway.

For more information about the Voice Codec patent pool, including information for prospective licensees, please visit https://www.via-la.com.

About Via Licensing Alliance:
Via Licensing Alliance is the collaborative licensing leader, dedicated to accelerating global technology adoption, fostering participation, and generating return on innovation with balanced licensing solutions for innovators and manufacturers of all sizes around the globe. Via has operated dozens of licensing programs for a variety of technologies. Via is an independently managed company owned by industry-leading participants with over 25 years of intellectual property licensing leadership. For more information about Via, please visit https://www.via-la.com.

 

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Joint statement welcoming the Republic of Togo’s announcement on Visa facilitation for African nationals

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Togo

The AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank commend the Government and people of the Republic of Togo for hosting Biashara Afrika 2026 and for their continued commitment to advancing Africa’s economic integration agenda

LOMÉ, Togo, May 21, 2026/APO Group/ –The AfCFTA Secretariat and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) welcome the announcement by the Government of the Republic of Togo, under the leadership of H.E. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Council of the Republic of Togo, regarding measures to facilitate visa-free entry for all nationals of African States holding valid passports, as announced by the Minister of Security on 18 May 2026.

The announcement was made in Lomé on the sidelines of Biashara Afrika 2026, the continent’s premier trade and business platform, which has brought together policymakers, private sector leaders, investors, and stakeholders from across Africa to advance dialogue on intra-African trade, investment, and regional integration.

Throughout the engagements, participants underscored the importance of facilitating the movement of African citizens, entrepreneurs, and investors as an important enabler of intra-African trade and economic cooperation. Against this backdrop, the announcement reflects the growing continental momentum towards strengthening connectivity and deepening African integration.

The AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank, to which Togo is a State Party and a Member State, envision a continent where goods, services, capital, and people move more freely across borders in support of an integrated African market. Measures that facilitate mobility and connectivity continue to contribute towards advancing the broader mandate of both institutions; the attainment of the aspirations of Agenda 2063.

The AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank commend the Government and people of the Republic of Togo for hosting Biashara Afrika 2026 and for their continued commitment to advancing Africa’s economic integration agenda.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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