universities and innovation hubs. The
government will expand this ecosystem outside
of Nairobi and it’s environs and into the
counties. To this end this government supports
the development of innovation hubs and
hackerspaces across the country at National
and County level
The Ministry of ICT will develop and
update regularly, and make available online
guidelines, best practices, open source software
and supporting materials for the creation,
operation, management and maintenance of
innovation hubs, hackerspaces, chama-based
start-up funds and incentives,
Innovation Funding: Very early stage
start-ups, in the pre-prototype phase of
development, need funding, management and
technical support. These firms and individuals
are the very life-blood of the start-up
ecosystem. To support them the government
encourages the establishment of crowdfunding and mentoring networks.
Venture capital: Seed and growth funding
for promising start-ups remain a continuing
challenge in Kenya. The government will
establish an anchor fund that will invest in
qualifying ventures for a proportionate equity
consideration on a first-loss basis. Co-funders
will then be more willing to commit significant
capital to qualified entities. By catalysing and
unlocking capital into the sector from cofunding partners Private Equity, Venture
Capital, Angels, Debt Funders, Guarantors,
Development Financing Institutions the
Government aims to leverage its anchor fund
several-fold leading to a multiplier effect in
capital availability.
The Government will also explore
innovative ways of raising risk capital for
startups by creating incentives for long-term
funds to invest in early stage Kenyan
enterprises; pension funds are encouraged to
set aside 5% of their investments for the local
ICT start-up ecosystem.
Capital Markets: The government will
work to encourage early Initial Public Offerings
in the Growth Enterprise Market Segment
(GEMS). The Government will support the
growth of Permanent Listed Vehicles that build
a bridge between investors and the businesses
that need investment to grow.
Leveraging Our Geopolitical Position:
Kenya sits at the nexus of East African
commerce, but the reach of our ICT companies
tends to be limited to Kenya. The Government
will make such arrangements with other
African countries as is possible to permit the
mutual recognition of Kenyan corporations
without further registration to facilitate
Ministry of ICT, Kenya
seamless trade and commerce in and between
Kenya and signatory countries.
Enterprise Creation Opportunities: The
government will work closely with the private
sector to informatise and digitise Government
services and operations and subsequently to
develop new service delivery paradigms and
opportunities, which can quickly be converted
into thriving enterprises that serve the
Government and/or the private sector.
3D Printing and Physibles: Personalised
manufacture is a growing and important
development in the ICT and manufacturing
ecosystem. In order to make this technology
more accessible to the broad public, the
government will encourage all tertiary and
secondary schools to acquire 3D printing
capabilities. All innovation hubs and maker labs
will be provided with a grant to acquire
additive manufacturing capabilities. Physibles
(data objects that are capable of being
manufactured as a physical object using
additive manufacturing processes) will be
protected as intellectual property and the
physical realisation of physibles will be
similarly protected. This policy explicitly and
specifically encourages the emergence of new
enterprises around the creation of physibles.
Fiscal Measures: The Government will
introduce fiscal measures to stimulate
increased investment and growth in the ICT
sector in order to create a favourable
investment climate for the development of a
globally competitive ICT sector and knowledge
economy. This policy seeks to mobilise internal
and external investment in the national ICT
ecosystem with a specific focus on the private
sector. The government will take the following
measures:
Taxes: The Government will review the
taxation regime to better align to the
requirement for affordable computing,
broadband access, financial inclusion and
online work.
Incentives: The government will provide
incentives for majority Kenyan owned ICT
device,
component
and
infrastructure
manufacturers
Training: Incentives will be provided for
the development of online computer based
training services and companies in Kenya.
Incubation Centres: Designated ICT
incubation centres in each county will be duty
free zones.
Venture Fund: The government will
create from existing and new fund pools a
rotating venture capital fund. The management
and priorities of the fund will be determined by
20/37
November-2019