Inside Africa: The Rise of the Silicon Savannah
One of the world’s newest headquarters for technologically innovative minds has been completed in Kenya, not too far from its capital of Nairobi. The Konza Complex, a nine-story, modern-looking building full of office spaces that are equipped with green and the latest smart technology, is the first major project completed in Kenya’s latest smart city, Konza Technopolis. Rising above Kenya’s savannah, the new tech city the country hopes will house some of Africa’s latest and greatest in start-ups, has been dubbed Silicon Savannah - a nod to its already well-established counterpart in California, Silicon Valley. The East African country has set its sights on becoming a globally recognized hub for technological innovation and has increasingly invested in Konza over the last several years.
The “Konza Technology City” was named Kenya’s Vision 2030 flagship project in 2008, and in the 12 years since that decision was made, its master plan was established and its first building was completed. Vision 2030 outlines the government’s goals to “to create a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life by 2030.” Konza is set to help achieve that goal by promoting growth in the global Business Process Outsourcing and Information Technology Enabled Services (BPO/ITES) sectors, and Kenya considers itself to be one of the few African countries looking to push forward in those sectors, joining South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, and Mauritius. Ground broke in Kenya in 2013 near Nairobi, where Kenya’s technology sector is already booming. This already established sector could potentially provide the leverage needed to get Konza up and running, and more importantly, make it a thriving part of the country’s economy.
Young entrepreneurs are already flocking to Nairobi, and the BBC reported in 2018 that nearly 75% of Kenya’s population is under 30 years old. The country also challenges the African stereotypes of mud huts and tiny villages with its bustling cosmopolitan capital of Nairobi, which attracts people not only from all across Africa but all across the world. Coding schools, incubators, accelerators, and an influx of funding have drawn these people interested in making their mark in technology. A high concentration in brain power in the area brings people from other well-known technology hubs like Silicon Valley and London. Already an English-speaking country with tourism and considered safe for Westerners, expats find the city the perfect place to find a meaningful career in start-ups like iHub, Vuclip, and SunCulture.
In early October, Kenya was named one of the top start-up hubs to watch out for by the World Economic Forum. Along with Singapore, Israel, the Republic of Korea, and Brazil, Kenya has shown real potential and real investment into its start-ups. Africa as a continent has shown tremendous growth in this sector overall, but Nigeria and Kenya have the highest and second highest, respectively, total funding in start-ups. Kenya’s $564 million in funding in 2018 was an increase of 62% from the previous years. More deals were made and more investment into an largely untapped economic opportunity for the quickly developing country.
One of the Konza’s goals is to greatly contribute to Kenya’s GDP. If one looks at the California version of the Konza, they can see the potential is there, if Kenya is smart about it. Silicon Valley, a hub for start-ups, engineers, and other high-technology workers, saw a huge boom in job creation in the 1960s and 70s. In 1959, there were approximately 18,000 jobs based in the tech city, but by 1971, that number had risen by about 100,000. Going forward even further, between 1992 and 1999, Silicon Valley saw an additional 230,000 jobs, all of which accounted for approximately 40% of the state’s export trade. Many of these workers were foreigners allowed into the country because of the specialized training, adding to the regional brain power. Progress was made in electronics, computers, and computer software, but also real estate as the area became more populous. As part of Kenya’s Vision 2030, the country’s own tech city is expected to help boost Kenya to middle-income status in the next 10 years. By the end of this year, the hope is to have 20,000 people working out of Konza and contributing to the push for more tech-based industries. Already, Konza Technopolis is sharing internship and career opportunities as it makes strides towards completion.
As with most large undertakings like building a new tech city with all the latest technologies, the process moving forward has been slow going and full of red tape. However, the project has been criticized for moving too slow and losing momentum. In 2019, it was reported that the Konza Complex was still uncompleted, though it has since been marked completed on the project’s website, and the government has been slow to provide the promised 10% funding for infrastructure. The delay in funding set the project’s timeline back some. The rest of the needed money is supposed to come from the private sector looking to buy into Konza from the start. Concerns about the tech city’s location and its need to set up the infrastructure, instead of piggy-backing off of existing infrastructure. The private sector could also be expected to pay for infrastructure the government is not willing to pay for itself, leading some to wonder if these investors might turn to look at already more established start-up hubs in Africa. Along with more conservative values outside of Nairobi and political tensions, this could potentially drive investors and anyone looking to join a start-up away. However, Kenya’s low cost of living compared to other tech hubs in the continent and the overall environment fostered in Nairobi have led many to be optimistic for Kenya’s Silicon Savannah.
