CISCO Edge Incubation Hub Launches in Nairobi

Cisco has announced the launch of a 69-million-shilling Incubation HUB in Kenya set to impart business knowledge and speed up access to the market for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) in the ICT space.

The centre, which will be hosted at The University of Nairobi is a first for Cisco in East Africa and the second in Africa, having launched a Hub in South Africa last year.

This Hub known as the ‘Cisco EDGE Incubation Centre,’ 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 name of the centre stands for the competitiveness that most of these small businesses lack to establish and sustain successful enterprises. The SMMEs will gain EDGE: Experience, Design, GTM (Go to Market) and Earn.  

Each cohort will have about 30 SMMEs at the incubation hub. Whitebox the Government initiative through the Ministry of ICT and the ICT Authority will provide some SMMEs to undergo training at the Centre.

The hub offers 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. 

“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 businesses to accelerate their growth through access technologies that are globally competitive,” said General Manager (GM) for Cisco East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, David Bunei. 

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.

The Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nairobi during the launch said, “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 the opening of this centre that will benefit many young people and entrepreneurs.”

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.

This centre will provide the opportunity for SMMEs to employ graduates from the NetAcad program and give them with workplace experience, and in turn, the SMMEs will leverage the graduates’ skills from The University of Nairobi.