Kenya is home to the most cutting-edge startups and technology hubs on the continent offering an attractive space for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to plug into this innovation potential.
This potential is enhanced by Kenya’s wide internet coverage, mobile penetration, advanced technology infrastructure, a deeply rooted entrepreneurial culture, bubbling innovators and skilled technology talent. Attracting established firms such as Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Intel, and most recently Visa and Google to set up regional bases in the country.
It is no surprise that Kenya is one of the African countries in the ‘innovation quadrangle’ alongside Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt, according to GSMA, an association of mobile operators and the mobile industry.
Nairobi, also known as the Silicon Savannah, has for several years been home to some of these Multinational Corporations and numerous innovation hubs.
Gradually though Kenya’s newest tech hubs, innovation spaces, accelerator labs and incubation centers are rising beyond Nairobi. Now towns such as Mombasa (Swahilipot Hub Foundation), Kisumu (LakeHub), Eldoret (Dlab and Eldo-Hub), Voi (Sote Hub), Machakos (Konza Innovation hub), and Nyeri (Mt. Kenya Hub and DeHub) are taking up the technology tag.
Participants at the Fintech Innovation Week held in Nairobi last month.
Andrew Masila, in charge of Innovation, Technology Research and Design at Safaricomsaid there are over 40 Tech Hubs in Kenya organized under the Kenya Association of Tech Hubs. Andrew is excited about the rise of such tech spaces as they are set out to solve local problems and have a positive impact on the youth, businesses and the country.
He said: “We are currently in the 4th Industrial Revolution which is centered around evolution with digital technology and capability pillars. These pillars are around Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, 5G and advanced networks, Digital Twins, Additive Manufacturing, Blockchain among others. This is coupled with the advent of web 3.0 the era of hyper-personalization and increased intelligence on the internet.”
Andrew believes these factors influence how technology impacts society and customer experience. His thoughts echo the recently launched Kenya National Digital Master plan 2022-2032, a blueprint for leveraging and deepening the contribution of the ICT sector to accelerate socio-economic growth.
“Industries in Kenya have an opportunity for increased productivity, global competitiveness, new growth, new markets etc. by leveraging digital technologies. On the other hand, failure of adoption of these technologies could lead to obsoleteness, extinction, cyber-threats and stunted growth,” Andrew warns.
The rise of tech hubs in Nairobi and beyond is accelerated by several factors: a youthful Kenyan population, global technology trends shaping the fourth industrial revolution, digital talent, and recent technology investments flowing into Kenya.
He added: “Innovation spaces provide the youth with an opportunity to impact the world through innovation, earn a living, avoid distraction from bad society actors, and meet investors and other collaborators who would have been difficult to complete. These include interacting with industry and government leaders that create valuable future networks.”
Andrew points out these innovation spaces provide an opportunity for real transformation of the country.
“This will in turn enable Kenya to become an exporter of technology and the associated returns for this. This will provide an avenue to build and ship out digital capabilities and products at scale globally,” he said.
Events like the Fintech Innovation Week are an opportunity to learn.
For a business such as Safaricom, whose vision is to be a purpose-led technology company by 2025, innovation is embedded at the heart of her business priorities.
Andrew said: “The benefits of innovation accrue to all entire communities, societies, and nations. In the spirit of customer obsession, we are co-creating with these hubs to ensure we are pulling in the right direction by actively interrogating and discovering what is missing to unleash the potential in these hubs while solving real social problems.”
Safaricom, he added, is now seeking to actively orchestrate the quadruple helix model of innovation that incorporates the academia, government, communities plus hubs and the industry. As part of this initiative these hubs will benefit in terms of shaping their governance, embedding innovation frameworks and capacities as well as leveraging various ecosystem networks in the arrangement.
“Innovation is a key enabler in the transition of Safaricom to become a technology company. It is important for Safaricom to keep innovating as this will create that edge in terms of superior customer experience while realizing new growth and new businesses,” he said.
Safaricom is also hosting and participating in technology and innovation events—such as the FinTech Innovation Week and the Pwani Innovation Week—to further grow and support the sector and also actualize innovations showcased. It also sponsored the Nairobi Innovation Week hosted by the University of Nairobi which speaks to the academia piece in the innovation model
“We are looking to innovate both internally and externally through open innovation. By participating in such forums, we learn from others, but it is also a source for mentorship, to attract tech talent into our pipeline, source for great ideas on how to improve our products, services and solutions. All these elements speak to innovation with purpose and what a technology company really does,” Andrew says.
Andrew is calling on the youth to urgently “take advantage of these spaces which are not only physical but also accessible through digital channels.”
From a continental view, the African Development Bank Group reports that Africa’s technology hub community is still nascent as the average age of active hubs is five years. Additionally, the top five ecosystem cities by the number of active hubs are Lagos (Nigeria), Cape Town (South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya), Cairo (Egypt) and Accra (Ghana).
Andrew concludes: “The innovation and tech-hubs provide opportunities for scaling innovations to production, employment and equip the youth with digital skills in an increasingly digital world. These spaces provide an opportunity to also interact with industry and government leaders that create valuable future networks.”
