universities and innovation hubs. The government will expand this ecosystem outside of Nairobi and it’s environs and into the counties. To this end this government supports the development of innovation hubs and hackerspaces across the country at National and County level The Ministry of ICT will develop and update regularly, and make available online guidelines, best practices, open source software and supporting materials for the creation, operation, management and maintenance of innovation hubs, hackerspaces, chama-based start-up funds and incentives, Innovation Funding: Very early stage start-ups, in the pre-prototype phase of development, need funding, management and technical support. These firms and individuals are the very life-blood of the start-up ecosystem. To support them the government encourages the establishment of crowdfunding and mentoring networks. Venture capital: Seed and growth funding for promising start-ups remain a continuing challenge in Kenya. The government will establish an anchor fund that will invest in qualifying ventures for a proportionate equity consideration on a first-loss basis. Co-funders will then be more willing to commit significant capital to qualified entities. By catalysing and unlocking capital into the sector from cofunding partners Private Equity, Venture Capital, Angels, Debt Funders, Guarantors, Development Financing Institutions the Government aims to leverage its anchor fund several-fold leading to a multiplier effect in capital availability. The Government will also explore innovative ways of raising risk capital for startups by creating incentives for long-term funds to invest in early stage Kenyan enterprises; pension funds are encouraged to set aside 5% of their investments for the local ICT start-up ecosystem. Capital Markets: The government will work to encourage early Initial Public Offerings in the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS). The Government will support the growth of Permanent Listed Vehicles that build a bridge between investors and the businesses that need investment to grow. Leveraging Our Geopolitical Position: Kenya sits at the nexus of East African commerce, but the reach of our ICT companies tends to be limited to Kenya. The Government will make such arrangements with other African countries as is possible to permit the mutual recognition of Kenyan corporations without further registration to facilitate Ministry of ICT, Kenya seamless trade and commerce in and between Kenya and signatory countries. Enterprise Creation Opportunities: The government will work closely with the private sector to informatise and digitise Government services and operations and subsequently to develop new service delivery paradigms and opportunities, which can quickly be converted into thriving enterprises that serve the Government and/or the private sector. 3D Printing and Physibles: Personalised manufacture is a growing and important development in the ICT and manufacturing ecosystem. In order to make this technology more accessible to the broad public, the government will encourage all tertiary and secondary schools to acquire 3D printing capabilities. All innovation hubs and maker labs will be provided with a grant to acquire additive manufacturing capabilities. Physibles (data objects that are capable of being manufactured as a physical object using additive manufacturing processes) will be protected as intellectual property and the physical realisation of physibles will be similarly protected. This policy explicitly and specifically encourages the emergence of new enterprises around the creation of physibles. Fiscal Measures: The Government will introduce fiscal measures to stimulate increased investment and growth in the ICT sector in order to create a favourable investment climate for the development of a globally competitive ICT sector and knowledge economy. This policy seeks to mobilise internal and external investment in the national ICT ecosystem with a specific focus on the private sector. The government will take the following measures: Taxes: The Government will review the taxation regime to better align to the requirement for affordable computing, broadband access, financial inclusion and online work. Incentives: The government will provide incentives for majority Kenyan owned ICT device, component and infrastructure manufacturers Training: Incentives will be provided for the development of online computer based training services and companies in Kenya. Incubation Centres: Designated ICT incubation centres in each county will be duty free zones. Venture Fund: The government will create from existing and new fund pools a rotating venture capital fund. The management and priorities of the fund will be determined by 20/37 November-2019