KIPPRA participated in the Africa Investment Conference (AfIC) 2025 held on 10th to 11th December 2025 in Nairobi. The KIPPRA team was led by the Executive Director Dr Eldah Onsomu alongside Senior Policy Analysts Ms Anne Gitonga, Dr Silas Ongudi, and Policy Analysts Dr Rodgers Musamali, Ms Laureen Karima, and Mr Kevin Wanjala.
Dr Onsomu featured as a key speaker on Day 2 of the conference during the session titled “Track 2 – SMEs & Innovation Hubs: Catalysing Africa’s Next Growth Frontier” (10:00–11:00 AM). The session examined the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovation hubs in shaping Africa’s investment landscape, focusing on strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems, unlocking scalable growth models, and positioning SMEs as drivers of job creation, productivity, and competitiveness. Discussions also explored opportunities for channelling investment into innovation-driven enterprises responding to emerging market demands and technological shifts.
In her presentation, Dr Onsomu highlighted key challenges facing MSMEs, including data fragmentation and capacity gaps, and proposed actionable solutions such as strengthening SME ecosystems, enhancing capacity-building, improving procurement systems, and establishing robust data-sharing frameworks. She also emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing and KIPPRA’s contribution in generating evidence-based policy research that supports enterprise development and facilitates government–private sector collaboration to promote innovation-led growth.
