Kenya’s legal bureaucracy has frustrated innovations in Kenya with high costs and long delays in regulatory approval that has becomes a major deterrent to commercialization of products reports the Daily Nation
The current legal framework in the East African nation has loopholes on certification of innovative products and approval for public sale of these innovations.
Among the many prototypes that have gathered dust while awaiting regulatory approval making it impossible to upscale and commercialize is an innovation by Sangalo Technical Training Institute of a cooking gas project that got funding. The Technical College has a innovated a solar power lawn mower this year which has received also a lot of attention and recommendations for upscaling but the bureaucracy might frustrate it as well.
“We have since applied to the Kenya Intellectual Property Institute (KIPI) for patent and are waiting for one for the lawnmower but we have inventor rights for the LPG cooking gas plant….Now Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has told us to produce more gas to facilitate rigorous tests ahead of commercialisation. ” said Mr Peter Wamalwa, senior lecturer in charge of mechanical engineering.
Although the Technical institute did get funds from the National Science and Technology Institute to undertake the gas project, the regulatory process has been a major barrier to growth.
Kenyan Start-ups with locally made products and services say foreign goods and services are the major impediment to industrial revolution in Kenya. However, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that Kenya’s economy would be immensely strengthened if local companies and public entities bought local products.
