Toshiba has appointed a regional managing director, Yoshio Abe, for the company's Southern African operations following restructuring.
Abe has worked at Toshiba for 32 years and has held senior positions in the company in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Tokyo. According to Abe, when Toshiba opened in SA six years ago, the business reported to Toshiba's German company, Toshiba TEG.
"This division took care of the European, Russian and Middle Eastern business operations, in addition to overseeing the local South African business. As the company has grown in response to the popularity of Toshiba products on the African continent and the Middle East, we have now repositioned the local business to be a part of the Toshiba Gulf business (Toshiba Gulf FZE), based in Dubai.
"This will improve logistical efficiencies significantly, enabling us to bring a wider range of Toshiba products to the market at more competitive prices." Abe adds that the company will invest in human resource capacity to maximise the potential that exists in the sub-Saharan market.
"Many large territories, such as the US and Europe, are shrinking, and the production capacity in these areas is much higher than demand, particularly in the personal computing environment. The Chinese market is enormous, but it is dominated by its own local brands," says Abe.
"Toshiba recognises significant opportunities for growth in the sub-Saharan Africa market, particularly in the personal computing space, and our expanded teams will be working hard to increase visibility of our award-winning products and value-added business channels in countries like Kenya, Angola and Nigeria, ahead of expansion into the rest of the region from our strong foundations in SA."
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