Kenya’s innovation scene is one to marvel at. Dubbed the Silicon Savannah, Kenya remains one of the top tech hubs in Africa thanks to its continuously growing tech hubs and incubators, fruitful partnerships with international governments, organisations and tech moguls, thriving tech communities among others.
Thus, it’s no surprise that we continue to see huge advancements in the tech and innovation space even from the young ages of 5 where kids can even learn how to code
Even as we continue to transform aspects of our day to day lives using technology, this creative journey has had its own share of ups and downs, including but not confined to lack of funds, slow rate of technological adoption by key players for example government systems, backdated government policies that hinder the rapid growth of the industry and so on. However there are key players who are consistently pushing to see Kenya become the African giant – one of them is Gearbox
Gearbox is an innovation hub that provides flexible working space, shared prototyping facilities, training in manufacturing, fabrication and design as well as mentorship, investment opportunities and community development
They recently partnered with the European Union (EU), a key player in supporting and investing in young talent to create the Gearbox Challenge. The GearBox Challenge is a 2 month scholarship programme for 26 candidates who will be able to bring their engineering ideas to life
The programme will introduce students to key principles of engineering whilst giving them the space to explore their vision for the future of tech and innovation in Keny
As part of the partnership with EU, Gearbox will offer 2 month scholarship programme for 26 candidates who will be able to grow their engineering experience in the progra
The need for more partnerships
One of the reasons why such programs and tech hubs thrive is because of partnerships like thes
When an organisation/company or an economic and political union such as the European Union sees the potential, ambition and drive from the youth to see a more sustainable world by the innovations and solutions they come up, there is more growth and developmen
The EU has partnered with Africa for decades, embracing the complex challenges of the continent Africa continues to build towards prosperity and global eminence, with support
from the EU in the form of expertise and resources and the tech space in Kenya needs more partnerships like these for it to continue to grow and thrive
