KDC Accelerates the Creative Economy, Innovation and Youth-Led Enterprise Growth at Africa Forward Summit

Kenya Development Corporation is stepping up its push to position Kenya as a regional innovation and creative economy powerhouse, as the State-owned development financier joins the high-level Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi this week.

The summit, jointly convened by the Governments of Kenya and France from May 11 to 12, is expected to bring together foreign investors, diplomats, donors and development institutions seeking to unlock financing and partnerships for youth-led enterprise and innovation across Africa.

Ahead of the gathering, Norah Ratemo said the country’s future economic growth will increasingly depend on its ability to support innovators, digital entrepreneurs and creatives who are reshaping industries and creating jobs.

Ratemo said KDC is now positioning itself as a major financier of sectors once considered peripheral but which are now becoming central pillars of economic transformation, including fintech, digital infrastructure, healthcare manufacturing, artificial intelligence, media, film, music and digital content creation.

“Innovation and creativity are no longer peripheral sectors; they are central to economic transformation, job creation and global competitiveness,” Ratemo said in remarks released ahead of the summit.

The development finance institution says it is expanding access to affordable long-term financing and advisory support aimed at helping startups and creative enterprises scale beyond local markets into regional and international spaces.

The renewed focus comes as Kenya races to cement its status as East Africa’s technology and innovation hub amid growing competition from other African economies investing heavily in digital ecosystems and startup financing.

KDC will also play a prominent role in the launch of Nova Garage, a platform targeting high-potential entrepreneurs in the digital and creative economy. The initiative is being co-convened by the French-African Foundation and Kenya’s State Department for Foreign Affairs through the Autonomous Advancement Initiative.

The platform is expected to connect young innovators with investors, development agencies and international partners in a bid to unlock technical support and catalytic financing for scalable businesses.

The corporation said the engagements at the summit will focus heavily on emerging sectors driving modern economies, including cloud computing, e-commerce, digital payments, smart technologies and artificial intelligence.

At the same time, KDC signaled a major policy shift toward the creative economy, describing industries such as film, media arts, literature, design and music as key engines for employment creation and economic growth.

The corporation is also expected to participate in discussions around agricultural finance through the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association pre-summit forum, where African public development banks will discuss joint financing frameworks aimed at strengthening sustainable agriculture financing across the continent.

KDC has already signed onto the Public Development Banks Joint Declaration, a framework designed to deepen collaborative financing models among African development institutions.

In another strategic engagement, the institution will join the AIM2030 High Level Breakfast Meeting under the Africa Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing, a programme backed by the Government of Kenya, the African Union Commission and the World Bank Group.

The initiative seeks to accelerate investment in Africa’s pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing industries as governments across the continent push to reduce dependence on imported medical products and strengthen local production capacity.

KDC says its participation in the summit reflects a broader strategy to finance sectors capable of driving industrialisation, innovation and long-term economic transformation.

The corporation has increasingly positioned itself as a central player in financing projects tied to manufacturing, climate-related investments, healthcare, tourism, post-harvest management and the expanding digital economy.