President William Ruto on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, announced significant changes affecting the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports led by Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

President Ruto ordered the removal of the Kenya National Innovation Agency from the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports and then transferred it to the Office of the President.

Defending the move, President Ruto noted that placing the agency in a central place will ensure effective leverage across the government.

Ruto announced the changes during the launch of the 4th Kenya Innovation Week in Nairobi.

The Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) is a State Corporation established under the Science, Technology and Innovation Act.

It was established to develop and manage the national innovation system. The Agency is therefore responsible for the coordination, promotion and regulation of the National Innovation System.

More funding

After announcing the changes, the Head of State explained that more funding for the agency would provide the necessary resources to de-risk venture capital coming to Kenya, enabling more ideas to get commercialised.

“At the moment, we are unable to move many ideas into commercialisation because of the limited resources available,” he noted.

Nonetheless, he announced the establishment of a Ksh1 billion Start-Up Fund and pledged to propose to parliament an allocation of Ksh500 million for the Kenya National Innovation Agency.

“When I came into office in 2022, the Kenya National Agency had an annual budget of KSh18 million. In our second year, we moved it to Ksh120 million. This year, the government has supported the agency with Ksh200 million,” he further explained.

The president pointed out that in the past year, Kenya had made remarkable progress in implementing the 10-Year Innovation Masterplan.