{"id":2288,"date":"2021-06-01T13:19:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T13:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=2288"},"modified":"2021-11-02T14:58:11","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T14:58:11","slug":"kenya-first-in-africa-to-make-electronic-chips-amid-questions-over-relevance-of-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=2288","title":{"rendered":"Kenya First In Africa To Make Electronic Chips Amid Questions Over Relevance Of Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0Kenya, known for its\u00a0Konza Technopolis<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 dubbed \u201cAfrica\u2019s Silicon Savannah\u201d \u2014 is about to be the continent\u2019s first nanotechnology and semiconductors manufacturer, a field dominated by global giants such as the United States, China, and Canada.<\/p>\n

Located at the\u00a0Dedan Kimathi University of Technology<\/a>\u00a0in Nyeri County, 60 miles east of Kenya\u2019s capital, Nairobi,\u00a0Semiconductor Technologies Limited<\/a>\u00a0will set the pace for local electronic chip manufacturing.<\/p>\n

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Other devices that the company will manufacture are mobile phones and television sets, which will be sold locally and internationally, according to its owners.<\/p>\n

The facility has been constructed through a public-private partnership between the university, and\u00a04Wave Inc<\/a>, a nanotechnology firm based in Sterling, Virginia, the United States.<\/p>\n

Twenty students of the Masters in Science and Engineering program at the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology have been allowed to work in the company built at the university\u2019s Science and Technology Park.<\/p>\n

Ben Kinyua, one of the beneficiary students, said the opportunity to work for Semiconductor Technologies Limited is a dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a platform to show the world that Kenya and Africa at large are rising in technology,\u201d he told Zenger News. \u201cThis opportunity will give us a platform to exploit and showcase our technological skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another student, Stephen Kiprop, 30, said he never imagined that one day his name would go in history books as one of the pioneers of the nanotechnology and semiconductors industry in Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready to prove to the world that we can do it,\u201d Kiprop told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

Speaking<\/a>\u00a0during the company\u2019s official launch on April 26, 2021, Kenya\u2019s President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta said that the company\u2014built during the Covid-19 pandemic\u2014will rely on local expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy producing locally, we are not only saving money but also creating well-paying jobs for our young people,\u201d Kenyatta said.<\/p>\n

The factory forms the foundation for the East African country to be a regional technological giant, said Kenyatta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the dream some of us have for this country, our ability to become an industrialized nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Githinji, chief executive of Semiconductor Technologies Limited, said the Covid-19 pandemic could not allow them to bring in experts from abroad, forcing them to use local talent to set up the factory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis journey was not easy by any measure, yet this team of young men and women made it seem effortless,\u201d Githinji told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit that the local talents surpassed my expectations and are delivering world-class products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mass production of electronic devices is planned to commence in June 2021, said Githinji, who doubles as the chief executive officer of 4Wave Inc.<\/p>\n

When that happens, Kenya will join other chip-producing global\u00a0giants\u00a0such as the United States, China, and Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis calls for us to produce high-quality products that will give Kenya recognition in the global market,\u201d Githinji said.<\/p>\n

However, Felix Nyawara, an informatics specialist in Nairobi, downplayed the factory\u2019s significance, saying more efficient technologies in developed countries are replacing the technology behind semiconductors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have a tech ecosystem that\u2019s robust enough to achieve industrial-scale production,\u201d he told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project needs a lot of funding annually, something that I believe the Kenyan government will not manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyawara said nanotechnology and semiconductor plants do not operate in isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need industry applications. How many tech hardware companies of international standards from Kenya, East Africa, or Sub-Saharan Africa can you mention? Our continent is a net importer of technological appliances. So, the plant (commissioned by Kenyatta) can only serve as a study and research facility at best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Joy Nyangla, an information technology expert from Tanzania, said the Kenyan factory idea is moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a high demand for semiconductors due to the growing global demand for smart electronic devices such as mobile phones, televisions, cars, among others,\u201d she told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost African countries depend on first-world countries for these products. Kenya has proven that Africa is capable of producing world-class products and technology and without being overly reliant on developed countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The establishment of the semiconductors factory builds on Kenya\u2019s reputation as the continental leader in technological innovation.<\/p>\n

The other notable invention from Kenya is\u00a0M-Pesa<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s most recognizable mobile money transfer services launched in 2007 by\u00a0Safaricom PLC<\/a>, Kenya\u2019s leading mobile phone operator.<\/p>\n

In 2013 Kenya launched the Konza Technopolis, also known as the \u201cAfrica\u2019s Silicon Savannah\u201d\u2014an ambitious project located 60 miles south-east of Nairobi meant to transform Kenya into a technology giant akin to Silicon Valley in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

John Tanui, the chief executive officer of the Konza Technopolis, said the first of the three phases of the project has already attracted over 40 percent uptake by investors. However, generally, progress on the project has been slow.<\/p>\n

Tanui told Zenger News the government is putting up infrastructure to attract local and foreign investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the key requirements for the uptake is the readiness of the infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are basically building the city from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Edited by Kipchumba Some and Amrita Das)<\/i><\/p>\n

Sourced From: Zenger News<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0Kenya, known for its\u00a0Konza Technopolis\u00a0\u2014 dubbed \u201cAfrica\u2019s Silicon Savannah\u201d \u2014 is about to be the continent\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-zenger-zone"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2290,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2288\/revisions\/2290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}