IBM plans innovation hub for Nairobi

By FREDRICK OBURA in LAS VEGAS

Barely a month after Nokia announced investment on a research centre in Nairobi, Kenya will yet again benefit from similar initiative announced by the International Business Machines (IBM) at a Las Vegas meeting on Monday March 5.

Steve Mills, the IBM Senior Vice President and Group Executive, Software Group said Nairobi will receive a state-of-the-art innovation centre before end of the year to support its rapidly growing software industry.

"We have a strategy for Africa during the 2012 period, which includes increasing our investments in the region," Mills said.

"We are coming up with an innovation centre in Nairobi to take care of software development – a key area of IBM strategic growth," he said attributing the growing in investment in IT in the country to a literate and young generation.

In an interview, Mills said IBM was ready to acquire software firms to help build great software to improve cities across the world.

Possible partnership

"Our plan is not to compete directly with software firms building solutions for mobile devices but to look at various ways through which we can work together," he said at the 2012 IBM Pulse concert in Las Vegas.

If IBM fulfills its promise, it will join other multinationals such as Nokia who have already announced similar projects for Nairobi by the end of this year.

Early February, visiting Nokia Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop said Nokia will putting up a research centre in Nairobi to support local developers and applications running on its devices.

"From the various conversations I have had with different stakeholders, it is clear that Kenya is full of opportunities and we will not ignore the market," said Elop.

"We are going to increase our investment by 25 per cent and hope to work with developers in building applications that have greater impact to people," he said.

"All across Africa, people are discovering that there’s an economy to be built. If business leaders jump in, there’s a glorious future for Africa," declared Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School.

The likes of IBM and Nokia are jumping. "Last September, when IBM was on the verge of signing a landmark agreement to provide information technology services for Bharti Airtel in Africa, IBM’s chief executive, Sam Palmisano, insisted on flying to Kenya on short notice to participate in the press conference announcing the deal."