CAPE TOWN - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has welcomed an announcement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish an innovation and entrepreneurship centre in Kenya, State House said in a statement on Sunday.
The announcement comes in the wake of President Kenyatta’s bilateral talks with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Following the talks held during the president’s working visit to the UAE, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces has directed the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development to establish an innovation and entrepreneurship centre in Kenya.
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 endeavours to boost the national economy.
According to the Khalifa Fund and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development Chairperson, Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s directive to establish the centre in Kenya was 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.
He added: “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.”
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 to the same level to assist in creating job opportunities for Kenyans.
IOL