Kenya, through the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA), will benefit from a PSF policy support to develop guidelines for enhancing technology transfer/commercialisation and coordination of Innovation hubs.

The virtual official launch of the PSF service in Kenya has brought together around 50 key national and international stakeholders, representing various institutions in Kenya (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, other ministries, universities, private sector, innovation hubs and startups- e.g. Association of Startup and SMEs Enablers of Kenya –ASSEK-, etc.), the Secretariat of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), the European Union, as well as the Embassy of Kenya in Belgium.

Dr. Norbert Richard Ibrahim, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) of the Department of Political Affairs and Human Development of the OACPS, highlighted in his speech the importance for the country to effectively manage the rapidly growing network of innovation hubs which “constitute the backbone of an innovation community”, and to strengthen the innovation commercialisation process within research centres, universities and other institutions of higher learning. More than ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, “we need to have robust and well-functioning innovation ecosystems aligned with the current but also emerging national and international challenges”.

In his intervention, Mr. Stephen Wathome, representative of the EU Delegation in Kenya, underlined that the PSF service is “of utmost importance not only to the work of the EU in Kenya, but to the creation of jobs and announced private sector engagement and this ultimately for the benefit of the people of Kenya”.

Ambassador Jacob Kaimenyi, Kenyan Ambassador to Belgium and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, expressed his proudness to see that Kenya has now over 200 Innovation hubs and he encouraged the Kenya National Innovation Agency “to set the best example, not only in Kenya, but in the region, (…) to be a role model in terms of managing and guiding innovation commercialisation.”

Speaking on behalf of Ambassador Simon Nabukwesi, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Johnson Nanjakululu advised local partners to “give inputs that will ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the outputs” and to support the implementation of the future guidelines “so that collectively we build a stronger innovation ecosystem that will serve us all”.

Officially launched today, this 6-months service is the fifth one of the Policy Support Facility (PSF) (after Lesotho, Mauritania, The Gambia and Timor Leste), launched in January 2021, by the  EU-funded OACPS Research and Innovation Programme, to enhance the quality and efficiency of R&I policy systems.

For more information on this PSF service, please download:

Factsheet of the PSF service in Kenya

Presentation of the members of the Expert Panel

Please also visit the webpage of the PSF service in Kenya