[Must Read]:KeNIA:Nurturing Innovations and Collaborations in Africa

Kenia: Nurturing Innovations, One idea at a time and Collaborations Across Africa

Since its inception in 2013, the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) is making strides in its mission to cultivate thriving innovation ecosystem in Kenya, focusing on nurturing ideas and connecting innovators with the resources they need to succeed.

Dr. Tonny Omwansa, KeNIA’s CEO and first employee, has spearheaded the agency’s growth from the ground up.

KeNIA’s core function, as defined by its parliamentary mandate, is not to generate innovations itself, but rather to construct and manage the national system that supports innovation.

“Our job is not to create innovations.

Our job is to develop and manage the national system of innovation.So innovations basically come from people.

And you need to facilitate people in order to first develop those innovative ideas and nurture those innovative ideas.

For purposes of them being commercially viable or being adopted in society.

So our job is to make sure that people innovate,” Dr.Omwansa noted.

KeNIA operates on the principle that innovation thrives where ideas are nurtured, teams are strong, and policies are supportive.

Omwansa maintains that a good idea is one that solves a problem or adds value to people’s lives.

“Innovative ideas only make sense if they are going to solve a problem or they are going to add value to people’s lives.

So if, for example, I manage to get you an umbrella that is not heavy and is extremely light that disappears in your bag and then you press the button and then all of a sudden it blocks you from rain.

And you really want to buy that kind of umbrella that reduces the pain of you being rained on and reduces the burden of carrying something heavy,” he said.

He says that the agency is looking for ideas that have been documented and are applicable in real life.

“Once you are able to document your idea and demonstrate its fundamentals, we can see that it makes sense.

At that point, you become a strong candidate for support in various ways,” he stated.

He stresses the importance of mentorship, incubation programs, and counseling to bring ideas into material products or services.

“Having an idea is one thing, and knowing what to do with it is another thing.

It also succeeds because you’ve got good incubation programs that guide you on how to develop an idea further for it to advance.

It means that you must have complementary skills in your team.

Because you can be an engineer, but not necessarily a marketer,” Omwansa said.

KeNIA’s work embrace diversification which include various programs and activities such as Commercialization Accelerator bridges, and  startup schools to train aspiring founders and entrepreneurship trainers.

 “Startup school is a program designed to train early -stage Kenyan entrepreneurs on how to turn innovative ideas into scalable ventures  and manage them.

Additionally, it provides training for educators in entrepreneurship on best practices for mentoring founders.

We also have a program called the ‘Research to Commercialization Accelerator’, which supports individuals with Innovative research outputs from universities and research centers by guiding them in transforming their findings into viable business enterprises,” he added.

Among other programs includes the Presidential Innovation Challenge and Award that recognizes and rewards innovative ideas countrywide, with top prizes reaching 5 million Kenyan shillings.

“For example, we run a presidential innovation challenge, and in this challenge, we look for people who have innovative ideas across the country.

And we evaluate them independently.And we recognize the most progressive and promising. And we give them awards,” he added.

Another key part of KeNIA’s approach is working with the private sector.

Dr. Omwansa  said that private sector involvement is vital when it comes to scaling innovations.

“Innovations hardly scale by themselves or with government support alone,” he stated.

KeNIA acts as the catalyst, de-risking initial-stage innovations using grants awarded to Innovation challenge winners.He said.

He noted that the Agency will use a marching fund scheme in future to force new innovators to initially attract private investment before receiving government funds, further strengthening this worthwhile partnership and resource mobilisation capacity of the innovators

He further added that monitoring the effectiveness of KeNIA’s activities is a difficult task.

The agency uses different measures like global innovation rankings, change in institutions within universities and research centers, investment attracted by start-ups, and tax revenues collected by new enterprises.

“So measuring the impact, is a bit of a complex one because that’s in the long term.

But you know, there are things like the Global Innovation Index.So that’s one way of measuring how much we have, how much are we comparing ourselves to the rest of the world.

The other method is, looking at the transformation happening in institutions following KeNIA’s interventions.

So for example, if I go to a university or I go to TVETs, we’ve got a mechanism for measuring their growth from an innovation standpoint.

Whether their policies are improving, their incentives,” he reiterated.

Omwansa also highlighted the crucial role of education in fostering innovation.

He believes that the more critical thinkers the education system produces, the more likely Kenya is to generate high-value innovations.

KeNIA several Successes

As an organization, it has had to build its systems, recruit talent, secure funding, and educate the public about the importance of innovation.

“ I have  been in existence for a little over four years.

And when we started, basically, I was alone.

I started it from scratch.

And that means you have to build the systems, the human capital, you have to recruit, you’ve got the funding, you need to design programs and start intervening in the ecosystem and so forth,” he said.

Another priority is reaching local communities.

KeNIA is working to expand its reach through partnerships with local institutions, plans to hire local officers, utilizes online media for program applications, and is developing the “Innovation Mashinani” program to drive innovation in rural areas.

“We work with institution in different counties.

Second thing we do in our HR department, we are looking to hire regional officers, regional local persons, who work for the institution and we coordinate to make sure that they are doing their part to support.

Thirdly, the programs that we run are not just local, but also national. You see, now that’s the power of innovation.

If we run an innovation channel…

And we’re looking for ideas from all over the country.We just ask people to apply online,” he said.

Dr. Omwansa’s personal vision aligns with KeNIA’s mission is to develop and manage a dynamic National Innovation system  that catalyses jobs and wealth creation.He aims to improve lives through innovative solutions and create a nation of innovators.

He envisions a Kenya where innovation is not just an idea, but a tangible force driving economic growth and social progress.

“The Innovation Agency is going to be creating wealth, leveraging innovative ideas.

And what we need is a significant institution in terms of size, in terms of expertise, in terms of manpower, to support the commercialization of the knowledge economy,”Dr.Omwansa said.