New Rwanda printer owners spell out strategy

By KABONA ESIARA Rwanda Today
Posted Friday, February 28 2014 at 19:19
The investor who has taken up majority shares in Rwanda Printing and
Publishing Company (RPPC) will have to make tough decisions to turn
around the mismanaged and loss-making government printer.
Print Fast Kenya, a Kenya-based printing firm, and Great Lakes
Communication, a local communication and public relations firm, won
the bid after agreeing to pay Rwf1.9 billion to have a controlling
stake of 70 per cent in the publishing company through their firm
Multi-Dimensional Print International Ltd (MDPI).
READ: Rwanda govt sells 70pc stake in printer to new company
Over the years, regional players have capitalised on the lack of
capacity at RPPC and poor service delivery to woo newspaper and
magazine publishers in Rwanda.
Data indicates that major news publications have sought printing
services outside Rwanda, including leading newspapers such as The New
Times, Rwanda Focus, Business Daily, Izuba and all the magazines.
Local print media owners told Rwanda Today high costs, poor quality
and delayed delivery of orders were among factors force them to seek
services outside Rwanda.
Rigid pricing
On pricing, Donald Rutayisirye said: "Rigidity on pricing by the
government printer is what forced publishers to seek printing services
in Uganda." In Uganda, he said, one can print 1,000 copies of a
quality magazine for about Rwf800,000, while in Rwanda it costs twice
as more.
However, The New Times has remained with RPPC but the few copies the
publication prints make the printer, which has an installed capacity
of 25,000 copies, remain underutilised. Imvaho Nshya, a Kinyarwanda
daily, also prints few copies while the French La Nouvelle Rélève is
now only available online after its readership dwindled.
A senior employee of RPPC who spoke on condition of anonymity
attributed the poor quality at RPPC's to obsolete technology.
"The New Vision and the Daily Monitor in Uganda, which are winning
RPPC's potential clients, use the computer-to-plate machines but RPPC
still uses the outdated paper films," the RPPC employee said.
But management of MDPI seem set to turn around the struggling RPPC,
announcing a Rwf4 billion investment to make the company competitive.
The MDPI managing director, Jay K. Shah, said: "By partnering with the
government, we expect to move both the printing and media industry to
the next level, which will eventually impact on skills transfer and
literacy. As private sector operators, we will ensure quality of
services in order for the end users to get more value for their
money."
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/Rwanda/Business/New-Rwanda-printer-owners-spell-out-strategy/-/1433224/2226100/-/lhonb8/-/index.html&q=New+Rwanda+printer+owners+spell+out+strategy&sa=X&ei=eSwSU8ugDKKq0QG05oH4CQ&ved=0CCMQFjAB
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
(GMT-05:00)***
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (1) |
.To post a message: RwandaLibre@yahoogroups.com; .To join: RwandaLibre-subscribe@yahoogroups.com; .To unsubscribe from this group,send an email to:
RwandaLibre-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________________________________
More news: http://www.amakurunamateka.com ; http://www.ikangurambaga.com ; http://rwandalibre.blogspot.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments
Post a Comment