The United Arab Emirates will establish an innovation and entrepreneurship centre in Kenya.
The announcement is part of the outcomes of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s bilateral talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Following the talks during the President’s working visit to the UAE, Zayed Al Nahyan directed the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development to establish an innovation and entrepreneurship centre in Kenya.
“Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has announced its plan to establish an innovation and entrepreneurship centre in the Republic of Kenya,” a news release by the official Emirates News Agency said.
According to State House, the innovation and entrepreneurship centre will focus on launching programmes, workshops and initiatives geared towards providing aspiring and established Kenyan entrepreneurs with guidance on how they can inject innovation into their ventures to enhance the economy.
According to the Khalifa Fund and Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development chairman Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, the establishment of the centre comes as part of the UAE’s ongoing commitment to contribute towards empowering talented innovators and entrepreneurs around the world.
“With centres such as these, we provide entrepreneurs with resources, support and guidance to contribute to their local and global economy, bringing about positive economic implications and security,” Al Hammadi said.
“This collaboration between the UAE and Kenya will see the two respective nations implement Khalifa Fund’s successful model to the new innovation and entrepreneurism centre with the aim of reflecting the same levels of achievement in Kenya as has been experienced in the UAE,” he added.
Al Hammadi said the Khalifa Fund, which was recently recognised as the best-in-the-world by the Global Monitoring Index, is committed to enhancing and elevating Kenya in a similar fashion to assist in creating jobs for Kenyans.