Baseline analysis of 3 innovation ecosystems in East Africa

The potential impact of technology innovation supporting social and economic development in developing countries is very dependent on the level of maturity of National Innovation Ecosystems (including policy environment, infrastructure and socio-economic diversification). Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have recently experienced considerable technological entrepreneurial growth, facilitated by Innovation friendly regulatory environments, evolution of National Research Education Networks (NReNs) and rollout of Obre optic backbones. However, while it is clear that ICT, Job Creation and developing a Knowledge Economy are common policy priorities, the Innovation Ecosystems in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala are still fragmented. Innovation Spaces are insufficiently differentiated and have sustainability challenges with their business models and there is a limited funding and entrepreneurship support as well as insufficient collaboration and coordination between Stakeholders. This paper analyses these Innovation Ecosystems and provides some recommendations about how these challenges can be addressed.