Kenya’s printing and production of recorded media output grew by 2.3 per cent in 2025, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, highlighting the continued activity of an industry adapting to changing business and consumer needs.
As businesses embrace digital communication, print is evolving rather than disappearing. From personalised marketing and commercial production to automation and AI-driven workflows, the industry is exploring new ways to deliver value, improve efficiency and remain competitive.
Ahead of International Print Day, Canon Tushar Vashnavi explores the changing role of print in Kenya and East Africa, the investment opportunities emerging for local print businesses, and how technology, skills and partnerships will shape the industry’s next chapter.
Kenya’s printing and production of recorded media output increased in 2025, even as businesses accelerated their use of digital channels. Ahead of International Print Day, why does print continue to matter — and what is changing about its role?
Print has not survived by standing still. It has remained relevant because its role is becoming more precise. Digital channels are excellent for immediacy and reach; print creates a physical experience, permanence and, in many applications, a different level of attention. The strongest businesses are no longer treating the two as competing channels. They are asking where each one adds the most value.
In Kenya, that evolution is visible in the type of work print service providers are being asked to deliver: shorter campaigns, personalised communications, premium marketing collateral, point-of-sale material, publishing, packaging-related applications, labels and increasingly specialised jobs. The economics are shifting from simply producing very large volumes to producing the right volume, for the right audience, at the right time.
That is why the 2026 International Print Day theme, #PrintWorks, is particularly relevant. For me, “print works” when it produces a measurable business outcome — when a printer can help a customer launch faster, personalise more effectively, reduce unnecessary stock, improve quality or create a physical experience that digital alone cannot provide.
The opportunity for Kenya is therefore not to defend print against digital. It is to make print more valuable within a digital economy. That requires technology, but it also requires print businesses to understand their customers differently and build services around the outcomes those customers are trying to achieve.
You recently participated in the 11th Print Pack Sign Expo in Nairobi with Copy Cat Group. What did the conversations at the show tell you about the priorities of Kenyan printers today?
The value of an exhibition is not only what you demonstrate; it is what you hear. At the Nairobi show, together with Copy Cat Group, we had direct conversations with print professionals about production pressure, quality expectations, application growth and the need to get more value from every investment.
The imagePRESS V1350 was an important part of the showcase, but it was not the whole story. Visitors also saw the imagePRESS V900 and imagePROGRAF TM-350, which helped us have a much broader conversation — from high-volume production and commercial applications to flexible colour production and large-format requirements. That range matters because there is no single technology path for every print business.
What came through strongly was the focus on practical business questions: Can I take on more demanding work? Can I move between jobs with less intervention? Can I maintain colour and registration consistently? Can I expand into new applications? And, critically, if I invest, who will support me after the installation?
That last point is where a strong local partner becomes essential. Copy Cat Group has operated in Kenya for decades and brings local market knowledge, print and document-management capability, technical reach and customer relationships. Our model is therefore not simply to introduce technology into a market. It is to combine Canon’s portfolio and expertise with strong in-country capability so customers have access to consultation, implementation and ongoing support. The exhibition made that partnership visible, but more importantly, it allowed us to listen to where Kenyan print businesses want to go next.
Where do you see the strongest growth opportunities for Kenyan and East African print businesses, and how should they think about investment beyond simply buying a faster press?
The biggest opportunity is to move the investment conversation from equipment specifications to business capability. Speed and image quality will always matter, but a press earns its place in a business when it helps create sellable output, opens new applications and improves the economics of production.
For Kenyan and East African print businesses, I see several areas of opportunity: personalised and targeted marketing, premium commercial print, publishing and book production, point-of-sale materials, packaging-related work, labels, short-run applications and large-format communication. The common thread is greater variety. Customers want more versions, more relevance and faster turnaround, often without the volumes that traditionally made specialised print economical.
That changes what a printer should evaluate. Media flexibility, automation, colour consistency, registration, finishing options, workflow integration, operator requirements, waste levels, uptime and service support all influence the real return on an investment. The imagePRESS V1350 is one example of how high productivity can be combined with automation and application flexibility; Canon’s broader production portfolio, including cut-sheet inkjet and workflow solutions, addresses different volumes and business models.
My advice is to start with the work you want to win three years from now, not only the work you produce today. Map the applications, the turnaround expectations, the skills required and the margin potential. Then choose the technology and workflow that can support that business model. That is a much stronger investment framework than simply comparing pages per minute.
Rising input costs and pressure on margins remain major concerns. How can automation, workflow optimisation and AI change the economics of a print operation?
The first principle is that productivity is not the same as press speed. Profit can be lost before the first sheet is printed — in file preparation, scheduling, colour setup, unnecessary test prints, manual intervention, rework, bottlenecks and downtime. So the economic opportunity is to make the entire workflow more predictable.
Automation can remove repetitive steps, standardise job preparation, improve colour and registration control, reduce avoidable errors and help operators manage a more varied job mix. Workflow platforms such as Canon’s PRISMA portfolio are designed around this broader production environment, connecting stages such as job preparation, submission, production management and monitoring. At press level, automated quality controls can help reduce the amount of manual adjustment needed to maintain consistent output.
AI adds another layer of potential, but it should be discussed practically rather than as a buzzword. Over time, more intelligent use of production data can support better job routing, forecasting, maintenance decisions, quality control and resource planning. The value will come from using data to help people make faster, better decisions — not from adding AI for its own sake.
For markets such as Kenya, where every sheet, operator hour and service interruption has a direct commercial impact, this matters enormously. The goal is not simply to automate tasks. It is to increase the proportion of time and material that becomes billable, high-quality output. That is where digital transformation translates into margin.
As print businesses diversify, how important are service, skills and local partnerships in sustaining that transformation?
They are fundamental. A production press is a business-critical asset; customers are not only buying output capability, they are buying confidence that the operation can keep running. That makes service, technical expertise, training and access to local support part of the investment decision, not an afterthought.
This becomes even more important as production environments become more automated and connected. Operators need to understand workflows, colour management, media, finishing and how to use technology to solve a customer requirement — not simply how to run a machine. As application portfolios expand, skills have to expand with them.
Our approach in East Africa is built around working with a strong network of local partners who understand their markets, stay close to customers and provide the on-ground expertise businesses need. Canon complements this local strength with technology, product expertise, training and the wider knowledge we gain from working with print businesses across multiple markets. Together, this allows us to support customers not only at the point of investment, but throughout their journey as their production needs and businesses evolve.
I also believe service should increasingly be viewed as a growth enabler. Reliable uptime protects existing revenue, but good support also gives a printer the confidence to accept more complex jobs, work to tighter deadlines and enter applications that may be new to the business. Technology starts the transformation; people, skills and service are what make it sustainable.
Looking ahead, what will define the next chapter of print in Kenya and East Africa — and where does Canon intend to play a role?
I believe the next chapter will be defined by three shifts. First, print will become more targeted and application-led: less about volume for its own sake and more about relevance, value and speed to market. Second, production will become more connected, automated and data-informed. Third, the strongest print businesses will move further up the value chain, combining print with design, personalisation, finishing, fulfilment and other services that solve a broader customer need.
Kenya is well placed to participate in that shift because it has an active business environment, a strong entrepreneurial base and a print community that is already looking beyond traditional production models. The opportunity extends across East Africa, where businesses are modernising and brands need more sophisticated ways to communicate with increasingly diverse audiences.
Canon’s role is to support that evolution with more than a single product. Our portfolio spans production print technologies, large-format solutions and workflow capabilities, supported by local partners and service expertise. We want to help customers identify the right technology for the application and the right operating model for the business they want to become.
International Print Day is a useful moment to reflect on this. The future of print will not be secured by saying that print matters; it will be secured by continually proving where print works. When technology, skilled people, strong local support and a clear customer need come together, print can remain a powerful and profitable part of the communications economy.
