First homegrown thermal paper roll manufacturer sets up

FRANCISTOWN: Co-director of Smart Paper, Odirile Kenny is optimistic that the company which started operations recently will soon conquer the local market.

The company manufactures paper rolls for till, swiping machines, ATMs, gaming, and the lottery. The rolls are used as receipts. It is the first company to do so in Botswana. Apart from Botswana in Africa, such paper rolls are only manufactured in Egypt and South Africa.

Smart Paper is owned by 47-year-old Kenny and his 34-year-old wife Lorraine Kenny. Kenny pointed out that his wife is legally registered as the sole owner of the business, but they run it together as a family business. The business is located in the Somerset Industrial area.

Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) funded the company in July last year but only started operations in September this year owing to delays with the delivery of machinery. Kenny says they (he and his wife) came up with the idea to establish Smart Paper in December 2020 after noticing that no company manufactures thermal paper rolls locally. They submitted their proposal to CEDA in February 2021.

The 47-year-old highlighted that local banks and retail supermarkets use a huge quantity of their line of products but source most of them from South Africa. Before establishing Smart Paper, Kenny worked as a banker while his wife was in the insurance sector.

“Our first month (September) was all about training staff and setting up machinery as well as other key business operations. Our machinery arrived in August.

So far, we have been testing the quality of our products and the market. They are good (products) and I am optimistic that we will be well received by the market. There is interest in our products,” he said.

He says the Local Enterprise Authority and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre have chipped in to assist Smart Paper to gain market access as well as enhancing some of the firm’s operations. The business is in the process of executing its first sales.

“By the end of the month, we intend to have sold a combined one million units of our products (a combined figure of the company products). The goal is to reach a target of selling five million units by the end of the year. We want to use our status as the first company to manufacture [thermal] paper rolls as our competitive advantage.”

The company currently employs 10 people.

Amongst the employees are electrical engineers, industrial engineers, a quality control officer, plant operators, and an administration officer.

“We are restricted by funding, but the goal is to have 26 employees by the end of the year. We have to employ people in the marketing department and hire printing experts as well,” Kenny said. Kenny dispelled suggestions that CEDA is not for the ordinary Motswana and that its prerequisites for funding are not easy to meet. “What is important is to convince CEDA that there is a market for your products or services. If you are able to do so you get funding with ease.”

The company manufactures paper rolls for till, swiping machines, ATMs, gaming, and the lottery. The rolls are

used as receipts