IBM lab registers Kenya for tough investment challenge

• By getting the lab, Kenya joins countries like Australia, Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States, which host the computer giant’s other research units.
• IBM Research – Africa will conduct basic and applied research in areas including the use of modern technology to improve government efficiency, root out corruption, and manage city services such as water utilities and traffic control.
• The lab will serve Africa as a whole, and house IBM researchers alongside Kenyan and other African talent, selected and nurtured through a Resident Science Programme. The ease of doing business in Kenya, combined with a strong support for innovation, were key factors in the decision, an IBM spokeswoman told me. But some aspiring ICT leaders in Africa are not so happy with IBM’s choice.
• So while this is Kenya’s time to bask in the sun, policymakers in Nigeria, Rwanda, and other technology-keen African countries can take heart from the fact that the African race for private sector R&D investments is not over. It has only just begun.

Kenya’s claim to being Africa’s leader in information and communication technology (ICT) got a boost last month, when IBM announced it would place its first African research lab in Nairobi.

The announcement, on August 13, is a feather in Kenya’s cap. Like other African nations, it is looking to the private sector to pad out national spending on research and development (R&D) and boost innovation.

By getting the lab, Kenya joins countries like Australia, Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States, which host the computer giant’s other research units.

IBM Research – Africa will conduct basic and applied research in areas including the use of modern technology to improve government efficiency, root out corruption, and manage city services such as water utilities and traffic control.

The lab will serve Africa as a whole, and house IBM researchers alongside Kenyan and other African talent, selected and nurtured through a Resident Science Programme.

“The IBM research lab will not only rubber stamp Kenya as Africa’s leader in ICT, but will help the country to transform into a knowledge-based economy,” Information ministry PS Bitange Ndemo said in a press release.

But the decision means that other African countries with ambitions in ICT leadership will need to do some soul-searching to work out how to achieve their technological aspirations.

So why did IBM pick Kenya? Well, for a start the company has had a presence in the country for more than 50 years.

Strong reputation

But Nairobi is also the financial capital of East Africa, and Kenya’s ports make it a gateway to the continent.

Kenya has also been building a strong reputation in ICT innovation. The country’s e-banking system M-Pesa, is one oft-repeated success story.

The ease of doing business in Kenya, combined with a strong support for innovation, were key factors in the decision, an IBM spokeswoman told me. But some aspiring ICT leaders in Africa are not so happy with IBM’s choice.

“This may sound very sentimental, but I think Nigeria would have been the choice,” says Umar Bindir, director-general of Nigeria’s National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion. Bindir is not the only one to rue the decision.

Business Day, a Nigerian daily, ran an article last month saying that IBM’s decision showed that Nigeria was being “left behind” in ICT.

Nigeria’s supporters say IBM should have chosen their country on account of its larger domestic market and bigger university system.