Kenya has been ranked the second leading innovation hub in sub-Saharan Africa by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in its latest Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 report.

Kenya’s so-called Silicon Savannah only trails upper middle income economy South Africa, with Mauritius coming third.

“Kenya has a track record for recording high levels of innovation, outperforming on levels of innovation relative to GDP for the ninth consecutive year, an excellent record at par with other lower-middle-income countries like India, the Republic of Moldova, and Vietnam,” reads the report.

Kenya’s innovative strength has been attributed to startups’ easy access to credit and microfinance loans.

“As in previous years, Africa shines in terms of innovation relative to level of development. Out of the 18 innovation achievers identified in the GII 2019, six (the most from any one region) are from the sub-Saharan African region,” says the report.

Source Business Daily

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