Kenya has been called a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship.

But is it really and will it transform Kenya? The World Bank does seem to think so. In a report  titled “From Economic Growth to Jobs & Shared Prosperity” – released this week, and in comments by Apurva Sanghi, World Bank Lead Economist & Program Leader, it stated  that while some Kenyan firms are more innovative than China, Malaysia, India ones, in terms on products and processes:

• The innovation is small and incremental.
• Kenya’s management capacity, while high for Africa, still lags that of China and India.
• Only 3% of local firms buy licenses and patents.
• Few companies invest in R&D  (only 26% of firms).
• Few new products are introduced in Kenya (only 12% of firms introduced new products).