Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called on African countries to increase investment in research and development, saying the continent must build its own technological products and intellectual property rather than rely on imported solutions.
Mudavadi said Africa needed greater investment in research institutions, stronger partnerships between universities and industry, and better systems for turning local innovations into commercial products.
He spoke on Thursday, during the opening of the Africa Technology Leadership Conference 2026 at Eka Hotel in Nairobi.
“Africa must move from adopting technology to building technological power,” Mudavadi said.
He said African countries had established technology hubs, research institutions and innovation policies but needed to translate those initiatives into competitive businesses, jobs, intellectual property and stronger institutions.
Citing data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mudavadi said Africa continued to lag behind other regions in research and development spending and the number of researchers relative to its population.
“We cannot build technological sovereignty on imported knowledge alone,” he said, calling for sustained investment in researchers, universities, laboratories and institutions capable of turning scientific discoveries into practical solutions.
Mudavadi said countries that failed to invest in knowledge would remain dependent on foreign technology and expertise.
“A country that does not invest in knowledge will eventually pay to import the solutions, standards and intellectual property of those that do,” he said.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary cited Kenya’s mobile-money platform M-Pesa as an example of an African innovation that achieved international relevance through infrastructure and a scalable business model.
Launched in Kenya in 2007, M-Pesa enabled people to conduct financial transactions using mobile phones, including those who had limited access to conventional banking services.
“M-Pesa proved that Africa can invent globally relevant solutions and scale them,” Mudavadi said.
He outlined four priorities for strengthening Africa’s technological capacity, starting with integrating science and technology into diplomacy.
Mudavadi said artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity and space systems were increasingly shaping international competition and cooperation.
He said African diplomacy should help countries secure research partnerships, access scientific infrastructure, facilitate technology transfer and reach global markets.
He also called for African countries to participate in decisions governing emerging technologies.
“Africa must participate in global technology governance as a co-author, not as an afterthought,” he said.
Mudavadi cited Nairobi’s position as the only United Nations headquarters duty station in Africa and the Global South as an opportunity to strengthen the continent’s participation in global technology discussions.
Mudavadi said the second priority was connecting research to funding, industry and markets so that innovations could progress beyond the development stage.
He called on governments to finance strategic research, universities to support commercialisation alongside academic publication and private investors to invest more in intellectual property, software, data and scientific talent.
He also urged development finance institutions to consider the risks associated with technology businesses to help innovative enterprises grow.
On implementation, Mudavadi said expanding digital coverage alone was not enough unless technology was affordable, accessible and useful to citizens and businesses.
“Coverage is not adoption, digitisation is not transformation, a pilot is not scale,” he said.
He called for investment in infrastructure, skills, relevant services and institutions capable of supporting the use of technology.
His fourth priority was strengthening trust, data sovereignty and resilience through regulations that protect citizens while allowing innovation to develop.
Mudavadi said African countries needed secure digital infrastructure, stronger cybersecurity and data systems that support research and enterprise while respecting privacy and national sovereignty.
He challenged the conference to establish measurable targets for research funding, commercialised technologies, investment mobilised, partnerships implemented and economic value generated.
He also called for continental cooperation through shared standards, interoperable digital systems, cross-border markets and regional research infrastructure.
“Most importantly, we must move from technology ambition to strategic advantage,” he said.
Mudavadi reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to investing in digital infrastructure, research, skills and innovation, while using diplomatic partnerships to expand technological cooperation across Africa.
He said the continent’s young population, natural resources and growing consumer markets offered opportunities to develop homegrown solutions to economic and social challenges.
“This is not a Kenyan project. It is an African imperative,” Mudavadi said as he officially opened the conference.
