Canon, an imaging technologies manufacturer, has opened a subsidiary in Nairobi to distribute its products as it eyes the wider Eastern Africa market.

Canon Kenya will function as a representative office for Dubai-based Canon Middle East which is intensifying search for new customers in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi.

The move has been necessitated by a need to "gather more indepth reach into Africa and to better understand its changing market dynamics and customer demands", the firm said. Canon manufactures a range of cameras, printers, scanners and binoculars, among other cross-media imaging technologies.

Its technology solutions come either as stand-alone or completely networked for information input, management and output. They are targeted at both individuals and businesses.