Few countries can boast having a third of its GDP stored as mobile money in the hands of a telecom group. There is no miracle in the rise of MPesa, but a deep understanding by Safaricom of the social fabric of East Africa’s tech and economic hub, as well as a lots of test and try. The lure of mobile money have lots of startups competing into this space, to connect remittances, shopping and payments to the MPesa infrastructure. Other than that, Kenya is also experiencing a double motion in its innovation ecosystem: if it’s definitely a community-driven startup hub, its government is also playing a key role through laws and pharaonic projects.

1. Kenya innovation ecosystem
A 1-week exploration
following the Afrikoin conference in Nairobi
December 2013

2. We believe…
Innovation has no place in a global world, it’s everywhere
Innovation ecosystems can learn from one another
Local context matters and should be a source for innovators
This is why…
We’re on a world tour of innovation ecosystems!

3. History & context of
innovation in Kenya
Political sparks in an already fertile background

4. A brief history of Kenya innovation ecosystem
• 1895: The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate
• 1964: The Independent Republic of Kenya is proclaimed, English is its
official language
• 1960-1980: Although officially “non-aligned”, Kenya adopts a pro-western
stance, resulting in a capitalistic economy (neighboring Tanzania is socialist)

5. A brief history of Kenya innovation ecosystem
• 2002-2005: drop in prices of phones make them accessible
• 2005-2006: 1st first undersea cable for internet in Kenya. Africa
Online, based in Nairobi, 1st pan-African internet service provider
• 2007: Mpesa, the mobile money system, is built by telco Safaricom

6. A brief history of Kenya innovation ecosystem
• 2008: An electoral crisis makes Ushahidi, a crowdsourced crisis map
accessible through SMS, hugely popular
• 2010: Ushahidi founders & team launch iHub, Kenya’s 1st tech/IT cluster
downtown Nairobi, now an epicenter of tech in Africa
• 2013: Government plan “Vision 2030” includes giant tech city Konza to be
built for $14.5bn and sustain the innovation ecosystem

7. Success stories in the Kenya tech industry
• Mpesa, a mobile money system built by Kenyan telco
Safaricom, makes 31% of the GDP spent via mobile
• iHub is the 1st coworking space and tech center in Kenya, with
many startups, incubators and community-driven events

8. Online & tech landscape of Africa

9. Kenya is a top connected country in Africa…
• As often in Africa, Kenya is a “mobile first” country
• 12% of mobile users in Kenya are smartphone users

10. ... With high social media activity…
Asia 27%
• More than “social media”, social is a way of life in Kenya, with 45%
of the GDP coming from the co-operative economy
• Political events (elections crisis in 2008, Westgate attacks in 2013)
stir social media use

11. … and strong co-operative/sharing economy
Asia 27%
• 42% of Kenya GDP made by cooperative companies/ventures
• Chama (groups of women) are the base unit of this sharing economy
• They tap & collect money from unbanked women and own most
transportation mini-buses in Kenya, for instance

12. The best is still to come in Africa tech
Asia 27%

13. Kenya innovation
ecosystem today
Pros & Cons, Top Connectors & local best practices

14. Pros and cons of Kenya
innovation ecosystem
• Hub of a 150 million people region
(Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and
Kenya) with forthcoming monetary union
• English-speaking (mother tongue)
• Diversified economy = many innovation
possibilities in different industries
• Cooperative/Sharing economy accounts for
42% of GDP (chama): highly social base
• Diaspora effect: $1bn remittances in 2013
• Supportive government: KONZA city + 30%
tenders allowed to youth/women
entrepreneurs
• Security issues (Somali & South Soudan
nearby) and recent Westgate terrorist attack
• Success in Kenya/East Africa does not mean
success in other parts of Africa (cultural
differences)
• Lack of technical skills/talent
• Market size not so big + many cultural
differences inside Kenya (biggest ethnic group
= 20% of population)
PROS CONS

15. Top connectors in Kenya
Eric Hersman (Twitter), founder of Ushahidi then
iHub, Kenya’s first tech cluster. Known as “White
African” online. Reputed observer of the African tech
scene beyond Kenya.
Mbwana Alliy (Twitter), founder of the Savannah
fund, Kenya’s VC. Tanzanian national with Stanford
education and Silicon Valley experience.
Martin Obuya (LinkedIn), engineer in satellites
comms turned facilitator and multi-hat man at iHub.
Also connects new media community and education.
Brian Muthiora (LinkedIn), worked previously at
Safaricom, Kenya’s telco and operator of mobile
money Mpesa. Now at GSMA (telco association) as
regulatory expert.

16. Top connectors to bridge Kenya to the world
Pelle Braendgaard (Twitter), Danish & American
codeur turned entrepreneur with Kipochi. Ties up
Bitcoin to remittances with strong vision on crypto-
currencies.
Eran Feinstein (LinkedIn), veteran of the mobile
payment industry in Africa, heading 3GDirectPay.
Njeri Chelimo (Twitter), Codeur turned
hacktivist, running Nairobi Dev School to teach for
free coding to Kenya youth.
Gianluca Iazzolino (LinkedIn), research at the
University of Edinburgh, working on how Somali use
mobile money (hawala).

17. Best practices of
Kenya innovation ecosystem
• iHub tech cluster runs without support from government or “usual suspects” of
the tech world
• Large autonomy and “test and try” culture for anyone with a project and a will

18. Best practices of
Kenya innovation ecosystem
• A long-term vision from Kenya government embodied in “Vision 2030”
• A new huge tech cluster called Konza City ($14.5bn investment) to be
build nearby Nairobi

19. Best practices of
Kenya innovation ecosystem
• New Constitution includes 30% of public tenders reserved for
companies started by youth (below 25), women entrepreneurs or
persons with disabilities

20. What’s next for Kenya?
Recommendations to push forward the innovation ecosystem

21. Next steps for
Kenya innovation ecosystem
Turn the entrepreneurial youth into people able to understand and
develop code
• Sustain grassroots initiatives such as Nairobi Dev School to learn to
code for free
“I wanted to go to a hack school in the US, in New York. But my visa was
refused, so I just set up my own school here. The first batch of 12 weeks
is ending this December 2013” (MartinPasquier.com)
• Help SMEs and existing business to integrate startup way of thinking
“Eustace’s mission is to have the core concepts of the startup economy
(prototyping, incubation) migrate to the more traditional SMEs and big
corporations, so as to turn them into intrapreneurs. Startupify the old
business, in a nutshell. To do so, Afritel runs programs of incubation, but
also assessment of skills for a better placement of the youth
(MartinPasquier.com)

22. Next steps for
Kenya innovation ecosystem
Reach out Kenyan tech to countries with similar features in
emerging markets
• Identify countries with similar features as Kenya
“In Kenya, many differences already exist, but some Kenyan share
features with people nearby, in Tanzania or Uganda” (Sam
Gichuru, Nailab incubator)
• Help Kenyan startups and tech to go and learn out of the
country
“Market size is small, and tons of events exist across Africa to
spread the word and test markets once a first base has been
successful at home”.

23. Next steps for
Kenya innovation ecosystem
Get a global lead on digitizing cooperative movements
• Take advantage of a cooperative-based economy at home
“Chama and cooperative economy makes up to 42% of the GDP in
Kenya. 300 000 chamas are registered, potentially 3x more are
existing” (Ian Grigg, founder of Dinero.sc)
• Support the expansion of these startups abroad
“Turnover of the co-operative economy in 2010: $1 155.1bn”

24. Eager to learn about the
other innovation ecosystems?

25. Documenting innovation through key events
Hot posts, interviews, live-tweet, Google Hangouts
Identifying key connectors on & offline
Discovering alternative and emerging innovation ecosystems
Beyond the Silicon Valley, local innovation hotbeds
Tech, Social impact, Education, Life Sciences…
Increasing mobility of innovators and ecosystem enablers
Connecting doers and thinkers through monthly Hangouts
Offering innovation ecosystem enablers to learn and exchange from peers
About our project
A world tour of innovation ecosystems
Documenting innovation through key events
Hot posts, interviews, live-tweet, Google Hangouts
Identifying key connectors on & offline
Discovering alternative and emerging innovation ecosystems
Beyond the Silicon Valley, local innovation hotbeds
Tech, Social impact, Education, Life Sciences…
Increasing mobility of innovators and ecosystem enablers
Connecting doers and thinkers through monthly Hangouts
Offering innovation ecosystem enablers to learn and exchange from peers
A world tour of innovation ecosystems

26. About our team
Analysis, community & network
Martin Pasquier
Entrepreneur in
Singapore (social
media agency), long-
time traveller
Mixes
economics, politics
and travels to analyze
ecosystems, reports on
innovation
Anne Lalou
CEO of Innovation
Factory & Web School
Factory in Paris
Transfer knowledge of
ecosystems to new
generation and to a
network of top French
companies
Nicolas Loubet
Serial entrepreneur
in Paris
with 3 companies,
growth hacker
Manages and
nurtures creative
communities
on & offline

27. Catch us if you can! Roadmap ’13-’14
SUPPORT US! Travel & time of exploration isn’t free 
Custom reports on emerging markets & trends
Workshops, talks on innovation trends
Connection to key local players for VCs, brands, tech communities

28. Links & resources to know more about
Kenya innovation ecosystem

29. • Our archive blog to find all the content produced for this report
• Follow us on Twitter: @martpasquier, @nicolasloubet, @annelalou
• Support us for our world tour, get reports on-demand and more!
Innovation is everywhere
About

30. About
Sources on the web
• Afrikoin Conference (website)
• iHub Research ongoing projects (website)
• Kenya’s government “Vision 2030” (website)
• Mark Kaigwa’s blog (blog)
• Erik “White Afrikan” Hersman’s blog (blog)

31. Thanks!
Martin Pasquier, for Innovation is Everywhere
martin@innovationiseverywhere.com