LakeHub, Fablab Winam and Winam Capital are set to host the second edition of the Lake Basin Innovation and Investment Week between the 17th – 19th November 2020.
The Lake Basin Innovation and Investment Week, is an annual entrepreneurship and innovation gathering, that brings together entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, policy makers, government, development agencies and other ecosystem support players, with an aim to spur the economic growth of the Lake Basin Region, through innovative business models in digitization, SME financing and local manufacturing.
The Innovation Week entails 3 days of learning and networking, webinars, hackathons, pitching, and exhibitions. During the week, innovators and entrepreneurs will showcase their ideas and products, build partnerships, secure funding, and find their target customers while creating new products that will transform societies and solve certain pressing social challenges. The main and parallel events are designed to give utmost value to all categories of participants.
All the events under the Investment week will be held virtually, due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation.
Among those scheduled to speak during the virtual conference are Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang Nyongo, British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott, President, Fab Lab Program, Sherry Lassiter, Konza Technopolis Development Authority CEO, Eng. John Tanui, among other participants drawn from the private and public sectors.
While commenting on the event on behalf of the LBIIW organising team, Dorcas Owino said that the event presents an opportunity for developing and exchanging ideas that would help spur economic growth of the Lake Basin region.
“This event will be a platform for entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, development agencies, and government and policy makers to come up with ideas that will contribute to the growth of this region,” she said.
She added:
“Participants will also be able to showcase their innovations and products and get a chance to also pitch their ideas, build partnerships and even secure funding for their projects that will transform societies.”
The event will be held under the theme “Local Innovations for economic recovery and resilience in the Lake Region.” It will seek to promote inclusive development of the Lake region by building solutions, concepts and ideas to address extant problems and unlock new doors to economic growth.
The ‘Hack4LakeBasin’ virtual technology hackathon will seek to support ideas and prototypes that tackle the immediate and long-term impact of COVID-19 in five areas in line with the Investment Week I.e. Health, Future of work, strategic partnership and governance, local manufacturing and food security
The hackathon will feature a special category for children between the ages of 12-18 aimed at creating an incubation hub for kids to explore their innovative ideas.
Among those who have confirmed participation in this category include the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), who have enlisted kids that were trained through the annual Konza Technopolis Kids Stem Bootcamp in August 2020.
Commenting on Konza’s participation in the Kids Hackathon and as the event’s media partner, Eng John Tanui, Chief Executive Officer, KoTDA said that Konza is keen to promote innovations in the country through partnerships with like-minded organizations.
“Konza is a cheerleader of innovation. We believe that is the best way to not only address current challenges, but also improve on what we already have. We therefore remain committed to partnering and supporting such events now and in the future,” said Tanui.
He further commended Lake Basin Innovation and Investment week for the initiative saying it will go a long way to promoting the Lake Basin region’s economy as well encourage innovations. “I commend LBIIW for such a noble initiative which will generate ideas capable of propelling the economic growth of the Lake Basin and will also encourage innovation which is very important,” he added.
Other partners of the event include; GIZ, Safaricom, FINGO, Association of countrywide Hubs, Fab Foundation, Safaricom, Youth Alive and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.
This event will be in concurrence with this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, which celebrates the makers, innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
