Students rise to the tech challenge

Cash awards flow for innovation, and study in China awaits the winners

Samson Onkoba is aware of how far he has come. After receiving an award for scientific and technical prowess, he acknowledges his humble origins and looks to good days ahead.

"My past does not determine my future," Onkoba, 23, a computer science graduate of Egerton University, 160 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, said after receiving the Africa Tech Challenge award.

"My passion in information and communication technology does."

The Chinese company AVIC international, launched the competition last year in conjunction with Kenya's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to promote technical skills of students in training institutes by upgrading their expertise, putting them on the path to good jobs or to becoming entrepreneurs.

Among those who attended the awards ceremony in Nairobi, were: Jacob Kaimenyi, education, science and technology cabinet secretary; Peter Mangiti, principal secretary for devolution and planning; Yao Ming, a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Nairobi; and Jin Shaohua, vice-chairman of AVIC International.

Onkoba received a prize of $5,000, and says he plans to use it to set up a company. He was also awarded a scholarship to study in China.

After having learned so many things in the competition, he says, he wants to encourage students to invest in their own talent.

"I know they want to be employed after they graduate. In reality, there are no jobs, and more youths are languishing at home as unemployment increases. But with passion and commitment, you can become a successful entrepreneur."

Onkoba, who with his four siblings grew up in a sprawling slum area, says he had always been keen on excelling in the world of computers.

After attending secondary school he attended Egerton University.

"My older brother, who is a budding film producer, bought me my first computer six years ago when I enrolled at the university. He recognized my potential and struggled to buy me the hardware."

With a lot of dedication and discipline he spent hours trawling the Internet looking for information on how to design mobile apps, he says.

"I am passionate about using information and communication technology to address challenges in our society."

He came across a notice about the competition, commonly known as the Mobile App Challenge, on a school noticeboard and decided to enter. The aim of the competition is to encourage participants to draw on their creativity by developing an app that meets specific criteria.

The competition attracted more than 200 entries, from which 50 were shortlisted for training.

"It was both intense and eye-opening," Onkoba says, adding that it not only tested their creativity but also allowed them to see the immense possibilities entrepreneurship offers.

This is because during the competition participants had the opportunity to work with business leaders, financial advisers, renowned entrepreneurs and chief executives who gave talks aimed at mentoring them.

He now sees himself becoming an employer rather than an employee, he says, although he plans to work for six months with one of the competition's sponsors.

There he hopes to perfect Ideas Hub, the app for which he won the competition. The prototype aims to link innovators and investors in Kenya.

"A patented idea can be presented and proposed to investors, who will then be able to fund and it," says Onkoba, who believes that with more time he would have been able to complete the app. As a final test, contestants were given 48 hours to develop their creation.

"In the next challenge, I think the participants should be given ample time to complete and test their innovations."

Victor Kyalo, chief executive of Kenya's Information and Communication Technology Authority, said there are plans to create a public platform on which innovations can be hosted.

"These innovations can find suitors who will fund and even scale them up. I believe the Mobile App Challenge by AVIC is a step in the right direction in growing our small and medium enterprises as stipulated in our national blueprint Vision 2030."

In an address, Jacob Kaimenyi commended AVIC for its efforts, saying that upgrading technical skills, particularly of youths in rural areas, significantly improves access to employment.

"The government has established a technical, industrial, vocational and entrepreneurship fund to support those who wish to venture into entrepreneurship. But last year a lot of this money was returned to the exchequer. I hope the efforts by AVIC will spur development of these projects."

The fund has an annual budget of $3.8 million, he said.

Also recognized in the awards were Desmus Kiplagat of Mount Kenya University and Mary Wangechi of Moi University. Kiplagat won $3,000 and Wangechi won $1,000.

In a category for Technical Training Institutes, Morris Mutuma Gatobu of Meru Technical Training Institute and Khamis Amin Onar Konde of Mombasa Technical Training Institute were judged to be this year's most outstanding participants.

The pair have been awarded the chance to work with AVIC International Holding. They were also awarded scholarships to study in China.

lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/30/2015 page21)