Senior participants from the Kenyan private sector, the international business community, the Kenyan government, media and international institutions are set to join a high-level breakfast meeting organised by The Economist Events on September 30th at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi.
‘Innovating in Africa: Working together to nurture innovation and optimise growth’, will explore the role of the state and private sector in nurturing and furthering innovation across the African continent.
The event which will take place between 7 and 11am on September 30th 2014 is part of a wider programme of meetings that are taking place in Jakarta, Seoul and Brazil as part of the ‘Look Ahead’ programme which is produced by The Economist and sponsored by GE. Look Ahead provides a daily look at the innovations transforming global business.
The high-level rosta of attendees, drawn from Africa, the US and the UK will also draw on successful examples from Kenya, a country where innovation, particularly within the ICT sector, has spurred substantial growth over recent years.
“With Kenya being the pioneer of one of the most developed mobile money transfer systems in the world, the country is a hub for all things technology in Africa, hence the choice of Nairobi as the venue for this discussion,”said Marianne Mazou, Events Director, MEA, The Economist Events.
The Cabinet Secretary for ICT Dr. Fred Matiang’i will open the briefing that will be chaired by Simon Baptist, the Chief Economist and Regional Director, Australia and Asia at The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Speakers at the event include Jay Ireland, President and CEO of GE Africa; Safaricom’s CEO Bob Collymore; and Abdel Bendoua, Head of Enterprise EMEA Emerging Markets, Google.
The Safaricom CEO will discuss his ideas on how private enterprises can best leverage the skills potential of Africa’s burgeoning youth, and what the state needs to do to further incentivise the private sector to engage in innovative projects and processes.
Other speakers include Josiah Mugambi, iHub Executive Director; Michael Macharia the Founder and CEO, Seven Seas Technologies Group, Chairman of Excelsior Group, Felix Olale; Biju Mohandas from the IFC and Ganesh Rasagam from the World Bank.