BOBST expands presence in West Africa as they held their inauguration at Eko hotel and suite- Victoria Island, Lagos on 20th September 2016. The event started with a press briefing followed by presentation/cocktail, present at the event was fifty VIP guests, including the Brand owners, Chairman, Presidents/CEOs, COO and Managing Directors of many packaging Converters, labels Producers and FMCG companies, members of Diplomatic corps, amongst the Consul General of Switzerland in Lagos; Yves Nicolet, Head of Netherland Representation in Lagos /Deputy head of Mission Abuja; Michel L. H. Deelen, Nigerian government officials and the media.
BOBST representatives were Samir Khoudja the Managing Director for Africa & Middle East, Emilio Corti the Head of Sales, Cristina Toffolo BOBST WEBFED, Gabriel Migy Head of Strategy, David Assaraf CFO Paris & Barcelona, Christophe Boutin Finance Manager and Eric Pavone the Business Director. They were well articulated and expressed BOBST intention and purpose of delving into the Nigerian market without controversy even at this season of recession. According to Samir Khoudja “BOBST intend to have an office in Lagos in other to be closer to our customers and able to provide them with higher standard of service, establishing presence in Lagos is a significant step for BOBST and we expect that it will lead to further expansion in the region.”
“BOBST believes in Nigeria and are not afraid to invest in her economy, we are of the opinion that other countries have gone through crisis. The USA, China, India also had crisis yet BOBST didn’t pull-out, we are positive and believe the recession will be over. Our middle plan believes in the western Africa, the future is bright and bright future doesn’t come for free, there would be ups & downs but a sure positive end. BOBST is not scared of coming to Nigeria but rather proud to be here”, Emilio Corti quipped.
“One of BOBST strategy is to be permanently regular with our customers; we have come to Nigeria for a long term and not a short term business relationship. We proposed to find the right people to work with in Nigeria, train them and have them connect with customers genuinely. We look forward to building a successful and reliable relationship with our customers in Nigeria”, says Samir Khoudja.
According to Cristina Toffolo “BOBST plan to supply it technologies and ensure that our customers can operate them generously, our plan covers the local and the small brands, customers will be trained on how to be creative and print same standard as the developed countries with the machines. “BOBST will find best solutions in operating with our Nigerian customers by networking with the best financial institute, we will network with clients and find the best Banks to support and if Nigerian Banks are not effective we would network Banks outside Nigeria” says Gabriel Migy.
BOBST stated emphatically that they are not here for offset business but rather for packaging businesses and services. So they are not planning to do offset, and not competing with any offset business.
BOBST is one of the worldwide leading suppliers of equipment and services to packaging and label industries, with more than 125 years specialist experience. BOBST provides machinery solutions and technical expertise to its customers in the folding carton, corrugated board, flexible materials, packaging for liquid, commercial print finishing, label manufacture, sack & bag production, pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape production, security applications, decorative printing, Tobacco applications, and industrial applications.
BOBST makes inventions, and we are always a step ahead, once we meet our customers, we will stay in touch, understand their needs and provide the right solutions. The new BOBST office in Lagos will cover Nigeria and the wider West Africa region, providing pre-sales assistance and technical support for BOBST sheet-fed and web-fed customers.