Silicon Savannah attracts technologists to Africa

Silicon Savannah is looking to give Silicon Valley a run for its money. Konza Techno City, as Silicon Savannah is more formally known, is envisioned to be a sustainable technology hub with a mix of businesses, workers, residents, and urban amenities. The emergence of such technology hubs is motivating companies like IBM establish centers in Kenya.

In a November 2013 status update, Catherine Adeya, PhD, CEO of The Konza Technopolis Development Authority, notes, “Konza is a Vision 2030 flagship project to position Kenya as a leading ICT [information and communication technology] destination by leveraging and expanding Kenya’s technology focused industries.” At 5,000 acres, Konza will be larger than Venice but smaller than Manhattan.

Adeya notes that the city will include science parks, business process outsourcing (BPO) centers, commercial office space, hotels and convention centers, residences, shopping malls, recreation and entertainment venues, and a university and research center. One goal is to create 200,000 jobs over 20 years in BPO and information technology enabled services (ITES).

A phase 1 strategy, to be implemented from 2013 to 2017, looks to identify anchor tenants and a governance plan for Konza. Phase 1 will be build out over 400 acres with the goal of accommodating about 17,000 workers and 30,000 residents. Adeya notes that phase 1 could entail 1.5M square meters of vertical development.

In an interview in New Scientist, which also appears in Slate, Osamuyimen Stewart, chief scientist at IBM-Africa, explains reasons for IBM's decision to open a research lab based in Nairobi, citing Africa's abundance of natural resources, rising middle class, and deep penetration of mobile phones. He adds that the emergence of Silicon Savannah was a factor in IBM's decision to open the lab, although he notes that innovation hubs are springing up across Africa.

Stewart's lab focuses on cognitive computing, and work involves looking traffic solutions, developing models and algorithms to study the state of groundwater in Kenya, and furthering the understanding of the business model and ecosystem surrounding agriculture.

When asked of the effect of the recent terrorist attack in Nairobi, he says, “I was in New York when 9/11 happened, and we picked up the pieces and we moved on.”