NIPEX Speech

I warmly welcome our honored guests’ participants and stakeholders in the print industry gentlemen of the press and ladies and gentlemen to this auspicious event.

The Nigerian International Print Expo is the biggest print expo in West Africa showcasing organizations in the print and allied industry. This conference is the 22^nd edition of NIPEX which made its debut in 2001.

This year’s expo is bigger and better as a result of the partnership between NIPEX and the organizers of the Agro and Plastprintpack exhibition in Nigeria.

The essence is to convene a robust print, plastics, and packaging trade show & conference in Nigeria that is at par with world-renowned exhibitions where visitors and investors needs’ are met under one roof.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Making Print Business Profitable Again”.

I congratulate DSC Integrated Media Limited, the organizers of this conference, for the wisdom to put this event together and for considering me worthy to open it.

This industry is one of the oldest in the country and is interconnected with other forest-based industries such as wood-working, pulp and paper.

It is also an important employer of labour, providing jobs for millions of people in Nigeria and the rest of the world. However, it has been facing many challenges due to the increasing costs of energy, equipment, and raw materials among others.

As you are already aware, printing is a capital-intensive endeavor.

This is because most of its equipment and materials are imported, coupled with the fluctuating high rate of foreign exchange.

Other challenges we are facing are people’s changing reading habits as well as the shift towards web-based media and e-solutions.

Packaging production is an important part of the print industry. This sector faces higher cost of equipment, rising cost of raw materials and balancing of environmentally friendly products against profitability.

Stakeholders across the value chain are voicing their concerns regarding the use of plastic packaging and they are realigning themselves in this direction.

It is for this reason that the theme for this year’s expo “Making Printing Business Profitable Again” becomes relevant.

So, how do we ensure that we can improve profitability in the print industry?

I believe that we will need to take some steps such as change our strategy, synergise the more and engage with other stakeholders within the value chain.

This expo presents opportunities for local and foreign practitioners and operators to interact and grow the industry.

I, therefore, have the unique pleasure and privilege to welcome everyone here and I hope that our deliberations will not only be insightful and meaningful but also very rewarding.

I thank you all for listening.