Armor increases its presence in Africa

Citing figures from the World Bank, Armor noted that six of the 10 fastest growing countries in 2018 were in Africa. Ivory Coast placed fourth on the list with growth of 7.2 percent. With annual revenue of €25 million EUR ($28.4 million USD) generated in Africa, the group is now seeking to increase its presence.

Armor has already been seeking to make the most out of growth in Africa for a number of years. This has included an industrial site in Morocco producing remanufactured printing consumables, followed in 2013 by a thermal transfer ribbon business with a plant in South Africa, where production has grown 10-fold in four years.

The new industrial site in Nairobi, Kenya has been established to grow the market for thermal transfer printing of barcode labels. Based since 2013 in Johannesburg, Armor has already applied its industrial model of high-quality production and service to the South African market, while ensuring its local partners ‘receive a fair price’, the company stated. Armor further stated that this new presence in Kenya will enable the company to take advantage of the region's industrial dynamism, driven by the numerous new plants offshored from China.

‘This market proximity enables us to be highly responsive and flexible in order to develop customer service of the highest quality,’ the company noted.

Andrew Fosbrook, Armor Africa managing director, explained: ‘We have been able to successfully penetrate the South African market with our standards of high quality. So we are now launching Armor East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, in an extremely dynamic region of the continent.’

Armor’s move into Ivory Coast marks the beginning a new deployment phase for sustainable organic photovoltaic options in Africa. This has the objective to develop multiple applications for Armor ASCA photovoltaic films by promoting access to electricity in the urban environment and in rural areas for isolated populations. West Africa, including Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso, is identified as representing ‘significant growth potential’ for Armor’s photovoltaic technology.

‘We are seeking to identify projects that meet real needs by joining forces with local private and/or public sector partners,’ said Adrien Ranchon, business development, Armor ASCA Africa.