Seychelles NATION starts own printing |18 May 2015

The National Information Services Agency is pleased to announce that last night it began printing the Seychelles NATION daily newspaper on its own state-of-the-art press facilities at Bois de Rose.

Copies of today’s issue on sale are actually the first to come out of the printing plant after the realisation of a three-year project. All the equipment, including the four-colour Speedmaster printing machine from Heidelberg, Germany, and a computer-to-plate processor, are brand new.  

The facilities are primarily for the printing of the Seychelles NATION newspaper, National Information Services Agency (Nisa) chief executive, Merline Volcère, has said.
According to Ms Volcère the investment in a new machine and latest technology is a big boost to the printing industry in Seychelles.

“It adds capacity, brings new technology into Seychelles, and manages costs. It secures the sustainability of the printing of the national newspaper for the foreseeable future,” said the CEO.

She added that Nisa continues to contribute to the revamping of the local printing industry, following the introduction of desktop technology by the Seychelles NATION in 1994. Nisa’s computer-to-plate processor replaces the computer-to-film technology which is now more or less obsolete.
Nisa hopes to make substantial savings in printing costs.

“Previously the printing of the newspaper was outsourced. Costs have been spiraling. Charges for the printing of the newspaper during the first four months of 2015, for example, indicated that the costs had almost doubled compared to 2014,” the CEO revealed.

She explained that the printing of the Seychelles NATION in-house would give Nisa greater scope to maintain the sustainable production of an affordable newspaper and later introduce more colour pages. The 20-page Seychelles NATION and 24-page Seychelles Weekend NATION presently sell at R8 a copy, making it the most affordable newspaper in the country.

Nisa spent some R23 million to procure equipment, refurbish the building, train personnel and pay for technical assistance from overseas. The agency took a loan of R20 million from Nouvobanq and used part of its own reserve for the implementation of the printing project and first importation of paper, ink, chemicals and other consumables.

“The business plan of the diversification is enabling Nisa to service the loan from its own newspaper and printing operations,” said Ms Volcère.

She pointed out that the development of the printing project is one of the objectives of the agency and part of its five-year strategic plan 2010-2015. When Nisa was created in 2010 as a non-budget dependent agency, it began looking for ways to bring about greater efficiency in the production of the newspaper, which is an essential public service. Printing costs represent 60% of expenditures.  
The new printing facilities will operate under the business name ‘NISA Press’.  

The building housing the facilities is situated in the Bois de Rose area, at the bend just after the animal feeds factory, and facing the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) building materials depot, on the road leading to the former Seychelles Coastguard base.  
 
Ms Volcère said Nisa will soon start discussions with the other printing houses in the country on future collaboration.