3072 THE KENYA GAZETTE This policy specifically encourages new business models and service delivery paradigms built around freelancing, online-work and opportunity swarming. An example of such a model (in no way prescriptive) would be a consortium of individual workers that form an ad-hoc company around a specific government or service delivery opportunity and share risks and profits, then disband on completion. A subset of whose members subsequently or concurrently join yet another opportunity focused organisation built just in time. These fluid, swarming organisations are an expected element of the future entrepreneurial environment, and are specifically encouraged. The enactment of the Companies Act of 2015 provides wide latitude in the nature and shape of Kenyan corporations. It is the aim of this policy to ensure that in the next 5 years, there are new firms: 1. 20 Kenyan Multi-national ICT Companies 2. 300 Mid-sized Companies 3. 5000 Small and Medium Enterprises 4. 20,000 Start-ups This policy provides that: Contract Swarming: Government ICT procurement will consider awards of tenders to new and innovative organisational forms to permit greater participation by emerging enterprises, and adopt home grown solutions. Buying Kenyan: In every instance where there is a Kenyan solution that meets up to 70% of stated requirements, the Kenyan built solution will be accepted in preference to any other solution from anywhere else. In a selection between Kenyan built solutions the usual beautycontest evaluation criteria will be used. In government defined priority areas, a 50% solution will be accepted in order to grow Kenyan capacity in those areas. Start-up Ecosystem: Kenya has a healthy and growing start-up ecosystem centred on universities and innovation hubs. The government will expand this ecosystem outside of Nairobi and it’s environs and into the counties. To this end this government supports the development of innovation hubs and hackerspaces across the country at National and County level. The Ministry of ICT will develop and update regularly, and make available online guidelines, best practices, open source software and supporting materials for the creation, operation, management and maintenance of innovation hubs, hackerspaces, chama-based start-up funds and incentives. Innovation Funding: Very early stage start-ups, in the preprototype phase of development, need funding, management and technical support. These firms and individuals are the very life-blood of the start-up ecosystem. To support them the government encourages the establishment of crowd-funding and mentoring networks. Venture Capital: Seed and growth funding for promising start-ups remain a continuing challenge in Kenya. The government will establish an anchor fund that will invest in qualifying ventures for a proportionate equity consideration on a first-loss basis. Co-funders will then be more willing to commit significant capital to qualified entities. By catalysing and unlocking capital into the sector from cofunding partners Private Equity, Venture Capital, Angels, Debt Funders, Guarantors, Development Financing Institutions the Government aims to leverage its anchor fund several-fold leading to a multiplier effect in capital availability. The Government will also explore innovative ways of raising risk capital for startups by creating incentives for long-term funds to invest in early stage Kenyan enterprises; pension funds are encouraged to set aside 5% of their investments for the local ICT start-up ecosystem. 7th August, 2020 facilitate seamless trade and commerce signatory countries. in and between Kenya and Enterprise Creation Opportunities: The government will work closely with the private sector to informatise and digitise Government services and operations and subsequently to develop new service delivery paradigms and opportunities, which can quickly be converted into thriving enterprises that serve the Government and/or the private sector. 3D Printing and Physibles: Personalised manufacture is a growing and important development in the ICT and manufacturing ecosystem. In order to make this technology more accessible to the broad public, the government will encourage all tertiary and secondary schools to acquire 3D printing capabilities. All innovation hubs and maker labs will be provided with a grant to acquire additive manufacturing capabilities. Physibles (data objects that are capable of being manufactured as a physical object using additive manufacturing processes) will be protected as intellectual property and the physical realisation of physibles will be similarly protected. This policy explicitly and specifically encourages the emergence of new enterprises around the creation of physibles. Fiscal Measures: The Government will introduce fiscal measures to stimulate increased investment and growth in the ICT sector in order to create a favourable investment climate for the development of a globally competitive ICT sector and knowledge economy. This policy seeks to mobilise internal and external investment in the national ICT ecosystem with a specific focus on the private sector. The government will take the following measures: Taxes: The Government will review the taxation regime to better align to the requirement for affordable computing, broadband access, financial inclusion and online work. Incentives: The government will provide incentives for majority Kenyan owned ICT device, component and __ infrastructure manufacturers Training: Incentives will be provided for the development online computer based training services and companies in Kenya. Incubation Centres: Designated county will be duty free zones. ICT incubation centres of in each Venture Fund: The government will create from existing and new fund pools a rotating venture capital fund. The management and priorities of the fund will be determined by guidelines to be established. The fund will be chaired by the a person to be determined by the Cabinet Secretary for ICT with membership of a representative of the Kenya Sovereign Fund, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, the CEOs of the three largest private sector pension funds at any one time, and four other members with ICT expertise as the Cabinet Secretary for ICT may from time to time determine. Financial Technology The Government will: 1. Facilitate and support the development and adoption of new and innovative financial technology services so as to drive financial inclusion. 2. Encourage financial technology service providers to share infrastructure and networks in transparent fair and non-discriminatory ways. 3. Through the Ministry of ICT, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Kenya, develop a financial technology interoperability policy that fosters competition. 4. Promote innovation in financial technology services. 5. Ensure that financial technology services infrastructure sharing is efficient, cost-effective for the consumer, protects the public interest and guarantees high security and quality of service. In the domain of mobile money, the Government will: Capital Markets: The government will work to encourage early Initial Public Offerings in the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS). The Government will support the growth of Permanent Listed Vehicles that build a bridge between investors and the businesses that need investment to grow. 1. Provide an open service providers. Leveraging Our Geopolitical Position: Kenya sits at the nexus of East African commerce, but the reach of our ICT companies tends to be limited to Kenya. The Government will make such arrangements with other African countries as is possible to permit the mutual recognition of Kenyan corporations without further registration to 3. Require interoperability between operators providers offering mobile financial services, taking differing commercial and technical models. and level 2. Provide for the protection money transfer services. playing field for mobile of intermediaries offering and_ into money mobile service account 4. Facilitate dialogue between operators and financial service providers, ensuring that mobile money transfer services bring value to