University students during past graduation on August 114, 2026. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard]
Universities have been challenged to move beyond academic publications and accelerate the commercialisation of research and innovation to create jobs, enterprises and practical solutions to Africa’s development challenges.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba said institutions of higher learning must deliberately identify promising innovations and help move them from laboratories and workshops into the marketplace, where they can generate economic value and improve people's lives.
Speaking during the joint graduation ceremony of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and the Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI), the CS said universities had a responsibility to ensure research contributes directly to national development.
“As we strive to deliver on this role, I call upon our institutions of higher learning to make deliberate efforts to scale up promising innovations and translate them into viable products, services and enterprises,” Ogamba said in a speech read on his behalf by Technical and Vocational Education and Training Principal Secretary Dr Esther Muoria.
The CS noted that universities must become stronger engines of innovation, enterprise and employment, ensuring that research does not remain confined to laboratories but reaches communities, industries and markets.
Ogamba also urged universities to prepare for the transition to Competency-Based Education, with the first cohort expected to enter university in 2029.
The call comes as universities face growing pressure to demonstrate how research funding and academic expertise can translate into tangible economic and social benefits.
