The government has intensified efforts to ensure innovations and research projects developed in institutions of higher learning are commercialized and transformed into viable enterprises capable of creating jobs and wealth.
Speaking during the Zetech University Research and Innovation Week 2026 at the university’s Mang’u Campus in Juja, Kiambu County, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation, Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak, said the government is keen on addressing what he termed the “valley of death” in innovation, where promising ideas fail to progress into market-ready solutions.
The PS noted that institutions such as the Kenya National Innovation Agency, the National Research Fund, and the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) are working closely to support commercialization of research and innovation.
Prof. Abdulrazak further revealed that Kenya currently spends about 0.78 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and innovation, adding that President William Ruto’s administration is committed to increasing the funding to 1 per cent and eventually 2 per cent of GDP as anchored in the Science, Technology and Innovation Act.
Zetech University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Njenga Munene, said the institution had finalized the development of an innovation commercialization master plan aimed at strengthening technology transfer and transforming research into commercially viable products.
He said the university’s innovation hub, Zetech University Innovation and Technology Business Incubation Centre (iBizAfrica), established in 2018, continues to support innovators in refining and commercializing their ideas.
Chairperson of the University Council, Prof. Harriet Kidombo, said the university had made significant strides in governance and research credibility.
She further disclosed that on May 14, the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation accredited Zetech University to establish an Institutional Scientific and Ethical Review Committee, a move expected to strengthen ethical research capacity at the institution.
