Kenya Airways (KQ) has launched the Fahari Innovation Hub, a platform for new ideas and data-driven innovations to accelerate impact-driven solutions that address societal and business challenges. The Innovation Hub is part of KQ’s strategy to contribute to the sustainable development of Africa.
By empowering, partnering, and co-creating innovative ideas and strategies with local start-ups and the SMEs ecosystem, KQ hopes to contribute to the development of Africa.
The Fahari Innovation Hub has been operating virtually for about one year. With the setting of a physical workspace, the hub will provide a centre for strategic innovation management offering opportunities for co-creation, collaboration, networking, research, and learning.
Last week, the Fahari Innovation Hub curated a virtual workshop for entrepreneurs dubbed the ‘KQ Aviation 101 Workshop’ where the Fahari Innovation Challenge was launched. The workshop served to apprise start-ups and SMEs on the opportunities available to access markets within the entire value chain of the aviation sector. This includes airports, the food industry, tourism, and digitization including Boeing Horizon X, IATA, Kenya Tourism Board, Nas Airport Services, General Electric, Hivos East Africa, and Funkidz.
Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka said, “At the pace at which change accelerates, especially now in the middle of a global pandemic, we have become increasingly aware of the need to be innovative as we position the business as a resilient, forward-looking and sustainable company with a deliberate inclusive agenda of empowering, partnering and co-creating with the society around us.”