Unveiling Implementation Strategy for the 10-Year Innovation Masterplan
The Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) hosted a breakfast meeting today, August 12th, 2024, from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM at Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi.
The primary objectives of this meeting were to:
1. Unpack Kenya’s 10-Year Innovation Masterplan’s pillars and present opportunities for collaboration.
2. Announce Key Initiatives by KeNIA including; Kenya Innovation Week 2024, CEIL Summit 2024, and Presidential Innovation Award.
3. Introduce New Courses at KeNIA Innovation Academy
4. Feature Practical Showcasing and Pitching by 2023 Presidential Innovation Award Finalists This breakfast meeting offered stakeholders in government, private, and international institutions the opportunity to understand how they can be involved in different projects and collaborate towards a more innovative and prosperous Kenya, as well as a platform for networking with other key stakeholders, facilitating discussions that can further enhance our national innovation ecosystem.
The key speaker for this event was Hon Alice Ng’ang’a – The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Social Protection at the National Assembly.
In her speech, Hon. Ng’ang’a:
1. Acknowledged that the Innovation Master Plan is not just a roadmap, but a beacon guiding the nation towards a future where innovation is at the heart of national development, and that is designed to harness the power of innovation across all sectors of our economy including Human Capital, access to Finance, Access to markets, Infrastructure and Policy”
2. Expressed her confidence and support for the Kenya Innovation Week (KIW), an annual event by KeNIA that brings stakeholders to showcase and celebrate the progress of the National Innovation Ecosystem – set to happen from the 25th – 29th November 2024.
3. Announced the plan to add a new category for public sector innovations that will enhance government responsiveness to service delivery and support the Presidential Innovation Award, a platform that has shown commitment to fostering a culture of innovation in all sectors of our society and aimed at creating about 387000 innovation-related jobs.
4. Called all stakeholders to explore various opportunities and forge partnerships to drive the innovation agenda and create a future where Kenya stands tall as a global leader in innovation The meeting also aimed to future foster private sector efforts to accelerate startup ecosystems.
Among the partners involved included, Britam: which runs BetaLab, a corporate accelerator innovation program that runs for 36 months with an aim to birth start-ups from existing innovations, JICA, British Council, FCDO, AfDB, KonZa Metropolis and many others who have been continuing partners for the innovation programs run by KeNIA.
The CEO of KeNIA, Dr. Tony Omwansa broke down the 10-year master plan that was launched a year ago, into two major focus areas: research commercialization and the start-up ecosystem. Through partnership with private sectors, the is a need to build capacity and institutional levels and the use of data in policy and regulatory environments to foster a more innovation-friendly environment. Through commercialization, over the next 10 years, KeNIA hopes to:
• Foster leadership, governance, and funding
• Achieve adequate infrastructure for innovation
• Improve human capital
• Create linkages and partnerships for innovation
• Entrepreneurial education
• Foster Policies and Strategies that promote innovation In one year since the launch, more than 10 universities adopted the entrepreneurial education approach and the ongoing Commercialisation and Entrepreneurial Institutions Leaders (CEIL) Summit (Scheduled to happen on the 29th to 30th of August 2024) to help in capacity building.
The start-up’s approach, we have existing partnerships with
1. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – designing start-up ecosystem support policy
2. Africa Development Fund (AfDB) – designing Kenya Innovation Fund of $42M by 2028
3. IDRC.CRDI – designing regional innovation collaboration framework
4. Presidential Innovation Award – scouting, recognizing, and commercializing promising innovations in Kenya
5. Kenya Innovation Week – annual showcasing of innovations and celebrating the start-up economy that fosters more partnerships Still seeking more partnerships and collaborations to increase innovation thus creating more job opportunities for the youth and creating wealth.
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