Kenya’s Knowledge Economy

Kenya, the third fastest-growing economy in the world right now, has every intention of creating a Knowledge Economy. As the ICT Master Plan states, it is “a roadmap” to just such a destination, with technology driving insight into all Vision 2030 pillars: social, political and economic. But just what is a Knowledge Economy and does Kenya understand everything it takes to get there? Will it it be Government-led, entrepreneur-led – or will the innovator lead us there? … We need only look at international success stories because creating a truly world-class Knowledge Economy has been done before. … In 2001, public sector company, FINEP, whose role is to foster science, tech and innovation across the [Brazilian] ecosystem, established INOVAR – the Brazilian innovation agency. It has played a crucial role in any Knowledge Economy – that of the catalyst. … A Knowledge Economy, therefore, cannot only be entrepreneurial-or-innovator-led, because Brazil had plenty of those and it wasn’t working. It must engage the public sector, too. … Even President Barack Obama, soon to land in a conference auditorium near you, will wade into a discussion around growing businesses at Kenya’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in July. … For Kenya, Government, entrepreneurs and innovators must come together to realise that we can turn the invisible – the dream of creating collective prosperity via a true Knowledge Economy – into the visible. But we must trek that road together.  Link