On 27 October some 25 printers from Kenya and Tanzania attended a seminar by Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) in Nairobi on current trends and advances in the print media industry.

KBA and its agency, Gazelle, started off by outlining the challenges posed by shifts in media consumption. Other topics included personalised print, trends in packaging production and new features on Rapida sheetfed offset presses. As well as the half-format Rapida 75E the printers present were among the first in Africa to be given a run-down on the new Rapida 105. The second, practical part included a tour of Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), which took delivery of a four-colour KBA Rapida 105 just a few months ago for printing posters and world maps. When welcoming her guests managing director Eve Obara’s could not conceal her delight at having what is probably the most advanced B1 (41in) press in East Africa. The Rapida 105 offers KLB whole new options in terms of quality and colour when printing school textbooks.

For KBA, East Africa is fast becoming a key market. The presses previously sold in the region were almost all second-hand, but over the past twelve months two new presses have been shipped to Kenya and another is currently being commissioned in Tanzania. The National Media Group in Nairobi is also adding a four-high tower to its existing KBA Comet.