KAMPALA – Maser Group which is focused on disrupting Africa’s consumer electronic market with low-cost high-quality products offering has released its financial results for the year 2022, indicating that it made gross revenue of more than USD 500 million and USD130 million profits making it enter into Unicorn Company by revenue.
This means, the Africa-based electronics company managed to double its global market share – withering Covid-19 and economic disruptions.
Mr. Prateek Suri, the Maser Group Chief Executive said the strong performance in the previous years is underpinned by increased growth in demand for low-cost high-quality products in growing markets such as Africa and the Middle East.
Under Mr. Suri’s leadership, Maser Group has invested heavily in Africa Region whereby in 2021 alone, the company sold over 200,000 electronic units in Dubai alone, with 70 percent being re-exported to Africa, a volume that trebled to 600,000 in 2022 making the brand 1st Consumer Tech brand in Africa to sell the highest number of units, a demonstration on how Maser’s products are rapidly gaining traction in the African market.
Suri, an Indian-born mechanical engineer, started his Maser brand in UAE, growing the business in leaps and bounds to expand to Africa where it is gradually establishing its foot-hold, starting from Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda and Nigeria.
In a recent interview with CNBC Africa, Mr. Suri revealed that his group seeks to explore new market opportunities in East, Central, and North Africa owing to the growing demand.
“Over the years, Maser has become a leading player in the re-distribution business of high-quality and low-cost electronic products. Africa is one of our biggest markets, and after receiving funding from a British private equity firm, we have significantly ramped up our business in the continent through the introduction of new products,” Mr. Suri told Forbes Middle East in an interview.
He says his company is capitalizing on the much sought-after African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is expected to increase trade with the member countries by more than 50 percent in less than three years by reducing and streamlining tariffs and easing policies across a unified continent.
“The size of the market could be as big as China and Maser is already in a good position to capitalize on this,” he says, adding that “Maser now has the supply channel and the confidence of the customers to roll out more products in the near future. Along with the UV-C air-conditioners, we are also planning to introduce washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and irons but Televisions will remain the biggest part of our product portfolio. However, we believe in constantly innovating and improving, so there will be new models with the latest features. We also see a huge demand for educational TVs.”
The electronics firm currently boasts a strong footprint in Kenya and Tanzania and Nigeria, its major ladders to scaling the continent’s vast market.