As international firms look to invest in Africa, Kenya has quickly become one of the most attractive destinations for foreign companies. Equity Bank announced at the Connected Kenya summit that it will launch an incubation and innovation center in the hopes of developing application developers and helping commercialize their innovations.
Equity CEO James Mwangi told the audience in Mombasa that the new center would be created in partnership with Canada’s University of Waterloo.
“We are going to launch the incubation center and later give developers loans to commercialize their products,” he said.
According to analysts on the sidelines of the summit, the new center is to be the latest in the country. Already, a number of centers have been established by Kenya Country Business Incubation Enterprises, University of Nairobi and Strathmore University.
The conference, which ended on Thursday, has analysts excited about the future ICT opportunities in the country. John Mubutu, a leading independent IT consultant, said late Thursday that the incubation center is the tip of the iceberg and that he expects the coming months to be full of new announcements for the country.
“I fully believe that the conference was a major success and that Kenya is moving in the right direction. These centers being established are a great way to get the younger generation involved now and help build an IT society for the future,” he said.
By Staff
