Kenya is characterized by dominant trends, including an expanding economy accompanied by significant improvements in social and political conditions; rapid technological development and innovation; and a growing population. Indeed, Kenya’s young and growing population presents the country with a youth bulge and with the opportunities and risks that come with it. High rates of youth unemployment continue to plague the country even though we have experienced impressive rates of economic growth over the past decade. Ensuring that young people engage in technology and innovation should be a top priority, as advances in technology, particularly ICT, have resulted in global connectivity and increased opportunities for entrepreneurship.
If harnessed properly, technology and innovation can offer opportunities for dealing with the challenge of youth unemployment, while a growing economy provides fertile ground for innovation and risk-taking by the government and citizens. However, little is known about how best to bring all these together.
Technology today is democratizing and personalizing manufacturing. 3D printing technologies, for instance, have the ability to provide local communities with access to facilities they need to produce and market their own products using everyday materials in a sustainable way. Off-grid electricity via solar panels, expansion of mobile and Internet connectivity to rural communities, platforms that allow phone operators to send text messages to conduct nationwide polls, children are learning to read on tablet computers and according to a 2015 report by GSMA, more than 85% of Kenyan youth use mobile money platforms.
Innovation in Kenya is not a new concept. Human survival requires constant innovation and adaptation. For most Kenyans, innovation is a necessity, which enables them to navigate the daily precariousness of life. With Kenya’s fortunes and prospects looking up and the country making strides in its efforts to achieve its transformation agenda, there is an urgent need to introduce or intensify the use of science and technologies in traditional innovation.
To successfully realize the transformation agenda, we will have to capitalize on the potential of our youth. Growing up in an increasingly free and fair continent, the youth in Kenya are dynamic, forward-looking and best positioned to find innovative solutions to local challenges through the use of science and technology. To do this, conditions have to be suitable and young people need an environment in which barriers to innovation are broken.