American telecoms equipment manufacturer Cisco that also conducts its business operations in Kenya has announced the launch of a KES 69 million incubation hub in Kenya.
The Hub will combine business knowledge and allow Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) access the ICT-related markets in a timely fashion.
The centre will be hosted at the University of Nairobi (UoN) and is Cisco’s second Hub in Africa, having launched the same facility in South Africa sometime in 2018.
Cisco’s Hub in the country will be known as the Cisco EDGE Incubation Centre, and will target to provide a platform for SMMEs to work alongside Cisco experts across the world. The collaboration should enable targeted businesses to bring customers and clients to the centre to experience Cisco solutions.
According to Cisco, the name of the centre is derived from the competitiveness that most of the targeted businesses fail to establish and sustain long-term success. Cisco says that businesses that will be part of its experience will gain EDGE: Experience, Design, GTM (Go to Market) and Earn.
In addition, Cisco reports that each cohort will have about 30 SMMEs at the incubation hub.
Kenya’s Whitebox Initiative, which is powered in collaboration with the ICT Ministry and ICT Authority will offer some SMMEs to undergo training at the Centre.
Moreover, Cisco says that the facility will provide complete business tools and services, including workspaces with high-speed broadband connectivity, video conferencing and collaboration platforms, as well as boardroom and training facilities.
At the same time, SMMEs will link up with global Cisco experts who can help them create and actively pursue business skills in the digital world.
“We are proud to be part of the Kenyan economic growth through creation of jobs and creating a business environment where entrepreneurs can thrive. The centre is targeting to enable small medium business to accelerate their growth through access technologies that are globally competitive,” says General Manager (GM) for Cisco East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, David Bunei.
“Cisco recognizes that Kenya’s Big Four Agenda and one of the drivers of this is technology as the country accelerates towards achieving vision 2030. We want to contribute to the country’s job creation efforts via support to small medium businesses,” says Bunei.
“The University of Nairobi supports of innovation and creativity among the youth providing them various platforms like our C4D Lab. We are happy to extend our support further by hosting the Cisco EDGE Incubation Centre. We congratulate Cisco on opening of this centre that will benefit many young people and entrepreneurs,” noted the Vice Chancellor of The University of Nairobi during the launch.
