
Kenya is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. With sustained average levels of growth over the past 10 years, the World Bank re-categorized Kenya from a low-income country to a lower-middle income country1. Kenya relatively ranks high on key science and technology indicators compared to other regional democracies. The current expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) stands at 0.48 percent, which translates to $20 million. The country’s long-term development blue print, The Kenya Vision 2030, envisions a newly industrialized middle-income country by the year 20302. By recognizing Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as an essential ingredient for incentivizing industrialization and economic diversification, the Vision envisages a globally competitive knowledge-based economy. In this context, science must translate into technologies and innovations that focus on addressing societal problems. This report sets the scene for transformative innovation policy (TIP) in Kenya by tracing the evolution of STI policy in the country. The report identifies the key STI policy actors in Kenya and finally how these actors particularly fit into Kenya’s 3 frames of STI landscape.