Cisco has announced the launch of a Ksh. 69 Million incubation hub known as ‘Cisco EDGE Incubation Centre,’ which will be located at the University of Nairobi. It will be the second Cisco incubation hub after they launched a similar one in South Africa last year.
The centre is expected to impart business knowledge and speed up access to market for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) in the ICT space. It is aimed at providing a platform for SMMEs to collaborate with Cisco’s experts across the globe to enable the small businesses to bring customers into the centre to experience Cisco solutions.
The hub will offer complete business facilities including workspaces with high-speed broadband connectivity, video conferencing and collaboration platforms, as well as boardroom and training facilities. In addition, SMMEs will be able to connect with global Cisco experts, who can help them develop business ideas and concepts in a digital world. Whitebox a Government initiative through the Ministry of ICT and the ICT Authority will provide some SMMEs to undergo training at the Centre. Each cohort at the hub will have about 30 SMMEs.
General Manager for Cisco East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, David Bunei, had this to say,
“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.”
The Vice Chancellor of The University of Nairobi, Prof. Mbithi, had this to say, “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.”
Cisco continues to work closely with universities and technical college’s upskilling students and graduates, among them unemployed youth through the Cisco Networking Academy. (NetAcad). NetAcad has been in existence for over 20 years, across the world and has committed to training over 1 million Africans over the next 5 years. NetAcad gives students hands-on digital skills training to prepare them for in-demand careers and the digital economy. With more than 7 million graduates to date, NetAcad is the world’s largest classroom