By Eddah Waithaka
The Ministry of Education today rallied top government bodies behind a bold new blueprint designed to catapult Kenya into a top-tier knowledge economy.
In a high-level validation meeting, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) convened to review and affirm the draft Kenya Research Financing and Capacity Strengthening Masterplan (2026–2036).
The Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Research officiated the session, which marks a critical step toward tackling the nation’s chronic research underfunding and unlocking its vast innovation potential.
A Plan to Bridge the Ambition Gap
Kenya currently invests just 0.8% of its GDP in Research and Development (R&D), falling short of both the African Union’s 1% target and its own statutory goal of 2%.
Yet, the country consistently outperforms peers in innovation output, signaling what leaders call “significant untapped potential.”
The Masterplan, developed by the National Research Fund (NRF) with facilitation from ISAAA AfriCenter and RISA Fund support, charts a practical 10-year pathway to close this financing gap and transform the nation’s Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (RSTI) ecosystem.
“It is unacceptable that 60 years after independence, we are importing food worth KSh 500 billion,” declared Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Research Science and Innovation, in a powerful address.
“We have the people. We have the brains. The only thing we need is to create that enabling environment.”He framed the Masterplan as a decisive move to “walk the talk,” urging collaborative action to achieve the nation’s 2% GDP target for R&D.
“We are doing this for our children and our grandchildren,” he stated.
The draft Masterplan anchors Kenya’s research revolution on five strategic pillars. It pushes for sustainable financing by diversifying beyond the national budget to draw in private partnerships, diaspora investment, and innovative bonds. The plan also commits to building cutting-edge, shared research infrastructure, including national labs, high-performance computing, and a central data repository.
A core focus rests on empowering people and forging real-world impact. This means strengthening research leadership and training across institutions while aggressively expanding industry links through technology transfer offices, innovation parks, and commercialization support. Furthermore, the Masterplan will streamline policy and regulatory frameworks to modernize governance and responsibly oversee emerging technologies.
Today’s high-level validation meeting secured critical whole-of-government commitment for this agenda. It aligned the Masterplan with national priorities like Vision 2030 and integrated sector-specific needs into one unified research strategy, ensuring coordinated action across all ministries.
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Prof. Dickson Andala, CEO of the National Research Fund, emphasized the plan’s role in building a “knowledge-driven economy.” He noted the need to escalate annual research funding from the current KSh 120 billion to roughly KSh 300 billion to meet the 2% GDP target.
Julius K. Melly, MP and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, rallied support for the funding commitment, drawing parallels to other national investments.
“If we can give only two percent of the budget… other people look at us as being serious,” he said, highlighting the need to convince parliamentary colleagues.
The session concluded with a clear expected outcome: to finalize priority interventions, consolidate institutional roles, and pave the way for Cabinet consideration and publication of the Masterplan.
The message from the leadership was unequivocal. This Masterplan represents more than a policy document; it is a pact to shift Kenya from fragmentation to strategic coherence, from reliance to self-sustaining research investment, and from aspiration to measurable national impact.
The journey to secure Kenya’s future as an innovation leader has officially entered a decisive new phase.
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