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First Ethiopian Print Cartridge Assembler to Build Factory
The already producing company plans to produce 40,000 toner cartridges, annually
Premium Print Plc, the first ever printer toner cartridge assembler in Ethiopia, is to build a factory with the capacity to produce 40,000 toner cartridges, annually.The company, a subsidiary of UK-based EC Solutions Ltd, aims to substitute the country’s import of toner cartridges and export its products to East African countries. It was established in 2011, with a registered capital 3.5 million Br, by an Ethiopian citizen, Biniam Hirut, and two Britons, Steven Green and Richard Harron, chairman and managing director of EC Solutions, respectively.
Premium Print started assembling cartridges three months ago, with a monthly production capacity of 200 cartridges. Until acquiring land for its assembly plant, the company rented a floor from Nazreth Building, located around 22 Mazoria, on Haile Gebrselassie Street, for its assembly workshop.
Importing original Hewlett Packard (HP)-brand cartridge carcasses from Europe and the US, the company remanufactures them for the Ethiopian market. The company brands its tonner products as Perfect Print.
Eying the Ethiopian and East African market, the company decided to build an assembly plant. It has already submitted a request for a 30,000sqm plot of land, with a manufacturing plant layout, to the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA). The Agency forwarded their request, first, to the Addis Abeba City Administration and, then, to Oromia Regional State’s Investment Office.
The regional Investment Office proposed a location in Holetta, 40km from Addis Abeba, and told the company to conduct their business plan with an accredited local consultant, according to Biniam Hirut, general manager of Print Premium Plc. Though the company is yet to get land, it awarded a British company, Capital Draughting Consultant’s Ltd, to prepare the architectural design of the assembly plant.
Once they acquire the land, the civil work of the assembling factory will be finalised in six months’ time, Biniam said. The company plans to export its products to East African countries a year after the assembly plant starts operations.
The machinery, expected to be installed in the new facility, will be imported from the US and UK at a total cost of 3.1 million dollars. The company has also planned to import parts of empty cartridges from the UK, Serbia, and Japan.
Premium Print foresees assembling 500 different types of toner and colour cartridges. The cartridges will suit all types of printer machines, the company claims. Premium Print will mark its tonners with codes and serial numbers as a sign of guarantee for its products, the general manager said.
“Print cartridges have been imported, since there has been no local company to produce them here,” Biniam told Fortune.
Ethiopia imported 484.7tn of cartridges in 2011. The majority of the cartridges, at 48pc, were imported from China, according to data from the Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA). The import of cartridges cost the country 10.2 million dollars in foreign exchange.
In order to get lower prices, users choose used refilled cartridges.
“Brand new toner [cartridges are] expensive, and customers prefer to buy refilled ones for their cheaper price,” according to an expert who has been in the business for a long time who asked for anonymity.
The quality of most of the existing refilled toners is low and often incompatible with printing machines, Biniam argued, however. The expert agreed with Biniam. The involvement of new players remanufacturing compatible toners for specific printers will help prevent equipment damage, she said.
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