This archive report was first published on 25 August 2021.
Published on August 25, 2021, a forum for East African start-ups in Nairobi shed light on the challenges facing the Kenyan startup ecosystem. The event, hosted by Norway and Estonia-based accelerators Pangea and Garage 48, brought together ecosystem players to discuss the state of affairs.
Bad investor and founder culture have been identified as the main factors hindering the Kenyan startup ecosystem from achieving its full potential. This was a key takeaway from the two-day hackathon, where participants emphasized the need for a sound founder and investor culture in East Africa.
Kenyan ecosystem players, including those from Lake Hub and Swahilipot, a lobby group of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), presented on the Kenyan startup landscape. KNCCI Nairobi Chief Executive Kenneth Ndung'u set the tone for the discourse, highlighting the unhealthy start-up culture in the country and the need for government policy reforms.
"Most of our members who are SMEs find the tax regime not accommodating to startups. Even the requirements for funding are way beyond the capacity of most startups in the country," said Ndung'u.
Local ecosystem analyst and mentor Robert Yawe also weighed in, criticizing the country's founder culture for being crippled by donor dependency syndrome and a defeatist culture perpetuated by the education system.
"Hubs aside, I believe that university is the best place for anyone to build and launch a startup. Look at where Facebook and Microsoft were founded - at Harvard. But what do most of the students here do other than attending lectures or just idling away time," Yawe said.
