Nikon has invested in a Sh20 million showroom at TRM shopping mall on Thika Road.
The Tokyo-based firm focusing on Kenya’s photography enthusiasts, demand from film industry.
Nikon, a Japanese manufacturer of high-end cameras, has opened a multimillion-shilling showroom in Kenya, marking the latest local venture by investors from the Asian giant.
The Tokyo-based company has invested in a Sh20 million showroom at TRM shopping mall on Thika Road, targeting the country’s photography enthusiasts and demand from the nascent film industry.
The tech firm, whose products include cameras, lenses, binoculars, micro-scopes and measurement instruments, currently has a presence in 30 African countries, but the Kenyan showroom is the first of its kind on the continent.
“Nikon was considering setting up the showroom in either Egypt, South Africa or Nigeria,” said Anish Harania, managing director of Imaging Solutions who are the exclusive Nikon dealers in Kenya.
“We are pleased that that they settled for Kenya. Nikon has similar showrooms in Europe and the United States,” he added in the Friday statement.
Nikon has further sub-contracted Nakumatt Supermarkets and 10 other dealers countrywide to supply Nikon products while facilitating training, maintenance and repair services.
“Kenya has a growing culture of photography and we would like to nurture that by offering the best equipment for people to fulfill their dreams,” said the managing director for Nikon Middle East and Africa region Takashi Yoshida.
Nikon’s investment comes at a time when its Japanese counterpart Casio is seeking entry into the Kenyan market through local distributors to push sales of its range of watches.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company says it is seeking closer control of the distribution of its products in Kenya, which are currently imported by independent dealers from South Africa and the Middle East.
Kenya is Casio’s fifth market entry on the continent through merchants having already established franchises in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.
“We would like to distribute our products directly to Kenya after contracting with local distributors,” the company told the Business Daily in an earlier interview.
“We will mainly focus on two brands in Kenya and Africa; G-Shock, shock-resistant watch, and Edifice, motorsports-inspired metal watch. We consider Africa as a market that has great potential to grow much more.”
Toridoll Corporation, another Japanese company, recently opened a fast-food restaurant on Mama Ngina Street. The restaurant called Teriyaki Japan was put up at a cost of Sh100 million, with the firm planning to open nine more outlets in Nairobi and a similar number in other towns over the next two years.
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