Canon has taken a decisive step to strengthen its presence in East Africa by unveiling its latest printing technologies at the Print Pack Sign Expo 2025 in Dar es Salaam. The showcase was more than a product exhibition; it was a statement of intent to support Tanzania’s burgeoning print, packaging, and interior décor industries with scalable, efficient, and increasingly sustainable solutions.
The company’s participation comes at a pivotal moment. Tanzania’s print market is undergoing rapid transformation, with analysts projecting a compound annual growth rate of 5.9 percent between 2025 and 2031. Demand is rising across commercial printing, packaging, educational materials, and promotional products, spurred by the country’s expanding consumer goods sector and ongoing investments in infrastructure. At the same time, the interior décor segment is emerging as a dynamic growth area. Valued at an estimated 63 million US dollars in e-commerce revenue this year, it is expected to expand at double-digit rates in the years ahead, driven by urbanization, higher household incomes, and consumer preference for high-quality, locally produced décor solutions.
Canon’s exhibit in Dar es Salaam reflected this dual opportunity. The company created three innovation zones that allowed visitors to experience its technology through live demonstrations, offering a hands-on understanding of how advanced print systems can help businesses improve productivity while reducing waste and energy consumption. Commercial printers witnessed how Canon’s imagePRESS V1000 could deliver consistent high-quality output at speed, meeting the demands of Tanzania’s packaging sector, which increasingly requires both agility and reliability.
In another zone, professionals from engineering, architecture, and urban planning sectors engaged with the imagePROGRAF TM255 and TC-20, designed to produce vibrant, large-format drawings, signage, and marketing materials efficiently and at lower operational costs. A third section brought attention to the growing potential of interior décor, where Canon highlighted the Colorado and Arizona series, technologies that enable customized designs on diverse materials such as wood, acrylic, textiles, and glass, aligning with the country’s expanding appetite for artisan-quality and sustainable décor products.
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According to Amine Djouahra, Canon Central and North Africa’s B2B Business Unit Director, the decision to participate in the Expo was strategic. “Our participation at Print Pack Sign Expo marks a significant step in bringing Canon’s latest technology closer to Tanzanian customers. We are committed to empowering local businesses with innovative, reliable print solutions that help them compete on a global scale,” he explained. Djouahra stressed that Canon sees itself not just as a supplier of equipment but as a long-term partner for Tanzanian businesses, offering training, technical expertise, and closer service support to ensure technology adoption translates into real economic and creative opportunities.
The sustainability dimension was also evident throughout Canon’s presence at the exhibition. With print technologies increasingly judged not just by their performance but also by their environmental impact, Canon emphasized how its latest systems are designed to reduce material waste, improve energy efficiency, and extend the life cycle of print applications. This approach is particularly timely in Tanzania, where the growth of e-commerce and the rise of local consumer industries are creating new pressures on packaging and décor producers to balance competitiveness with sustainability.
By situating its latest innovations in Tanzania, Canon is signaling more than a commercial interest. It is aligning with the country’s broader development agenda, which prioritizes industrial growth, local manufacturing, and environmentally conscious business practices. The Expo provided local entrepreneurs, designers, and manufacturers with a direct window into technologies that can enable them to scale their businesses sustainably, generate new jobs, and meet both domestic and international quality standards.
As the Expo concluded, Canon’s message was clear: the future of printing in Tanzania is not only about speed, precision, and versatility but also about sustainability, partnership, and long-term resilience. For local businesses, the event was an invitation to imagine how global technology and local creativity can come together to build industries that are competitive, innovative, and sustainable.
