Samsung Electronics Co. will be opening up a laptop and printer assembly plant in Ethiopia over the next few months. This is seen as a strategic move in increasing its sales on the continent, after it announced its plans to boost its revenue from Africa to US$10 billion by 2015.
“We have finalised the agreement with officials from the Metal and Engineering Corporation and officials from other government bodies.” Robert Ngeru, Samsung Electronics East Africa’s chief operating officer, said after an agreement between the manufacturer and the Ethiopian government. He added that the company has come to an agreement that will see it assemble televisions sets and refrigerators in the country.
Samsung will also partner with MultiChoice Ethiopia in offering free inbuilt decoders to customers purchasing Samsung Televisions. This will see the customers have access to digital TV, without having to purchase an external decoder to receive the service.
Speaking at last year’s Samsung Africa Forum in Cape Town, the company’s president and chief operating officer for Africa, Kwang Kee Park said that Samsung will target the African market with affordable handsets and smartphones specifically made for the continent.
The announcement was made during this year’s Fourth International Samsung Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The company already has assembly plants in South Africa, Nigeria, Mali, Sudan and Senegal.
