About 100 local innovators are expected to showcase their creativity during the fourth edition of the Pwani Innovative Week, slated for October 2 to 6 at the SwahiliPot Hub in Mombasa.

SwahiliPot Hub founder Mahmood Noor on Tuesday said the aim of the tech fair is to help create a widespread culture of innovation and stimulate the innovation ecosystem of the Coast region.

“Our target for the tech fair is young innovators. This is their week to showcase what they are doing,” Noor said.

“We want Kenya and the world to know what these young innovative minds and brands are doing to transform the community.”

He was speaking during the launch of the Kenya WhatsApp Impact Recognition Awards, which aims to celebrate unsung heroes in the digital and innovative space during the Pwani Innovative Week.

Swahilipot and Kayana Creatives, a community of female entrepreneurs that come together to move their business ideas to start-ups, have partnered to recognise the youth.

The main sponsors of the awards will be the 4gotten Bottom Millions (4BM), Kenya’s largest digital disruptor, which has been empowering the youth with opportunities since 2016.

At the event, Noor said, will be leaders and experts in digital transformation to discuss the power of resilience and building networks.

He urged the youth at the Coast to register for the event so that they can be put in the innovation training programme for their own benefit.

“We want to help the youth with small innovations and businesses because the focus has for a long time been on already big and established businesses,” Noor said.

He said they are partnering with the national government through the Department of ICT and Digital Economy, and the Mombasa government to make the event a success.

Other partners include the National Museums of Kenya, mobile phone giants Huawei, Sisco, Close the Gap Hub and the French, Belgian and UK embassies, which have been part of the event since its inception in 2018.

This year’s edition has been themed, “Sailing Beyond Borders: Empowering Youth in the digital economy for a sustainable future.”

Patricia Okello, the founder of Kayana Creatives, urged the youth, especially young girls, to venture more into technology and leverage platforms like WhatsApp to boost their businesses.

The collaboration between Kayana and SwahiliPot, she said, will help more women from Mombasa build sustainable businesses.

“Creativity is something that is deeply embedded in my heart, and I want to see how the youth in Mombasa, especially young girls, are creative,” she said.

“It is no doubt that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are using innovation and technology to grow small businesses and build resilience.”

Barbara Tarragon, the founder of 4BM, reiterated the need to support the youth venturing into business and recognise their efforts.

She said their partnership with SwahiliPot was to ensure that they reach out to more innovations outside Nairobi that are yet to be recognised.

“We want to explore more innovations outside Nairobi. We believe there are so many innovative ventures that are yet to be recognised in the grassroots, and that is why we are here,” Tarragon said.

She said the youth can leverage the opportunities in the digital economy, adding that business can now be done online as you don’t need to create a new application, but you can use the already existing ones.

“We have so many opportunities that are yet to reach youth in the grassroots, but through phones, we can reach many people because we can do business through WhatsApp in this digital era,” Tarragon said.

This is in line with the government’s goal of opening up the digital space for the youth.

Over the weekend, ICT and Digital Innovation CS Eliud Owalo presided over the opening of Jitume Digital Centres and Free Public Wi-Fi spots in Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.

Owallo said the government is keen on opening digital spaces in all the 1,450 wards in the country to ensure young Kenyans have access to opportunities in the digital space.