16.05.2023

Research Visit to Kenya

Successful research visit to Kenya

To deepen our research collaboration in Kenya, our colleague Dr. Richard Adu-Gyamfi embarked on a research journey to Kenya in late April 2023. He held discussions with technology and innovation hubs such as the iHub and iLab in Nairobi, in order to kickstart our research work on innovation and entrepreneurship in African hubs. 

The iHub is the first tech hub in Sub Saharan Africa and was established in 2011. In 2018, it was acquired by the Co-creation Hub (CcHub) which is headquartered in Nigeria. Another sister hub - Design Hub is located in Rwanda, making CcHub a tech hub under which both iHub and CCHub operate. iHub supports start-ups, innovators and change makers on their entrepreneurial journey to start or expand a business. They provide co-working spaces and have respective incubator and accelerator facilities for start-ups and growth-oriented businesses. Members of staff present at the meeting were Mr William Chesoni, the iHub Community Manager and Mr George Bush Otieno, Senior Research Associate. The discussions centred on the if and how to collect data and set up expert interviews at iHub as well as reaching out to iHub graduated entrepreneurs.  

At the iLab, discussions were held with Dr Joseph Sevilla, Director of iLab, Mr Emmanuel Kweyu, Deputy Director and Ms. Eunice Maingi, Manager IT Security Centre. iLab is the innovation arm at Strathmore University, one of the leading universities in Kenya and Africa at large. It has been in existence since December 2011 but has been fully operational since January 2012. iLab Africa works in the areas of e-health, data science, analytics, artificial intelligence, cyber security, digital connectivity, IoT, Last mile connectivity. There was mutual interest between the Doing Business in Africa research group at ESB Business School and iLab to cooperate in research. 

In addition, Dr. Adu-Gyamfi visited the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Kenyan Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and the East Africa Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (EACCIA) to explore research collaboration in terms of exports as well as sales and marketing approaches of African companies. The KNCCI is a private sector organisation that plays the advocacy role for all Kenyan businesses registered under it. It stands on three pillars of trade, policy and research. It has 50,000 direct members and over two million indirect members. It operates in all 47 counties in Kenya. KNCCI expressed their readiness to cooperate in reaching out to their members during the data collection phase. 

At the KAM, the meeting was held in the presence of the Mr Anthony Mwangi, Chief Executive Officer. KAM operates in a wide range of sectors and aims at creating backward linkages with the local economy that will augment existing forward linkages to make Kenyan manufacturers globally competitive. The CEO assured DBA of the organization’s support and dedicated a focal point to buttress their commitment.  

Finally, a meeting with the EACCIA was held with Mr Charles Kahuthu, CEO and Regional Coordinator, Ms Jacinta Kiruthi, Senior Business Development Advisor and Kenneth Ndungu, Programme Manager. The EACCIA has the objective to promote a conducive business environment for cross-border trade and investment within the East African Community. The Chamber agreed to support the research work of DBA by assisting to connect to other Chambers of Commerce in the East Africa region. 

In all, this was a successful research visit and DBA is proud to have extended its network to Kenya to advance doing business research in Africa. We would like to thank Charles Kahuthu for his generous support to set-up all the above-mentioned meetings at the various organizations.