Can The Silicon Valley Model Be Replicated in Kenya?

Kenya’s Kenya Vision 2030 Plan (a scheme to transform Kenya into an industrialized, middle income country by 2030) is being made more realistic due to several factors including:

• The development of the Konza Techno City
• Investment in East African Infrastructure
• The plans to expand Kenya’s economic base into manufacturing and IT
• The arrival of undersea internet cables which dramatically lowered the cost of the internet

Kenya is ambitious. For example, when discussing the proposed Konza Techno City the Financial Times noted that,

"Rather than echo a smattering of tech parks and business centres starting up on the continent…Kenya envisions a broader city-from-scratch to bring research universities, industry and government together..."

This is the model that has allowed Silicon Valley to thrive (though Silicon Valley was not built from scratch). Clearly, Konza seeks to achieve the same. In addition to providing a home for tech companies the plan also calls for the construction of a university to accommodate 1,500. The idea is that the university and the Central Business District can feed off one another in a manner similar to Stanford and Silicon Valley.

Kenya has a thriving tech community to build upon. Nairobi's Innovation Hub (iHub) provides a meeting place for innovators and investors while organizations, such as Nailab, offer technical and business support services to new tech companies. In addition to this there are a variety of organizations, such as 88 mph, who provide seed money to startups. Clearly, there are mechanisms for the exchange of ideas and the funding to help transform these ideas in viable businesses.

The existence of a burgeoning tech industry and increased investment in East Africa bode well for Kenya’s "Silicon Savannah." Though numerous challenges, such as attracting capital, remain we must note that success often breeds more success. If Konza, or any of the other ambitious plans in East Africa, show promise more funding is probable. It is also important to note that in the short term money invested in one place will not be invested elsewhere but in the long term success in one venture could attract capital to a similar opportunity. Such scenarios tend to improve political stability further aiding the attraction of capital. For this reason a delay in funding today does not necessarily deter Kenya's long-term ambitions. Kenya has already attracted 3.5 Billion dollars from the Chinese for railway expansion. It is not unreasonable to think that Nairobi will be able to attract more funding.