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{
"id": 1506817,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1506817/?format=api",
"text_counter": 321,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
"speaker": null,
"content": "In India, in 2016, the Government launched the Start-up Action Plan which was dubbed the Start-up Indian Initiative. Its objective was to address aspects of the start-up ecosystem and as a support framework for innovative entrepreneurs. India's motivation behind the Action Plan was to fast-track the spread of the start-up movement from the digital technology sector to other sectors, including social manufacturing, agriculture, education and healthcare. Further, they targeted to move the concentration from tier one cities like Mumbai to tier two and three cities which were considered as semi and urban areas. I am demonstrating some of those examples so that we can see that, as a country, that is something that has been implemented elsewhere. It can work in our country because we have the resources and the potential to do the same. Hon. Deputy Speaker, based on the foregoing, the necessity and urgency for enacting this Start-up Bill cannot be gainsaid. Once this Bill is enacted, it will provide a framework to encourage growth and sustainable technology development, new entrepreneurship, employment, create a more favourable environment for innovation and attract Kenyan talents to diverse capital avenues. It will also encourage young people to start becoming chief executive officers (CEOs) and not depend on looking for employment. They can gain much more when they are innovators and owners of their businesses and start-ups. The Bill provides for registration of stratus, a register of start-ups and even admission into incubation programmes. Further, it outlines the obligations of the incubators and support to start-ups, including credit guarantee schemes, training and capacity building, application for grants and revocation of patents, fiscal incentives, growth objectives and obligations for various entities. The framework provided by the Start-up Bill will enable start-ups to grow, thrive and encourage innovation and investment, and Government support for the start-up. It seeks to encourage the culture that we, as a country, have of innovation and entrepreneurship. It seeks to simplify registration, licensing, formalise recognition on what a start-up is, and create a special virtual economic zone. Despite their geographical location, they can use technology to leverage and be recognised as one ecosystem. To put this into perspective, for example, young people in South Africa have digital economy applications. They link up the farmers to the market centres through the digital economy. They sought to do this because they realised that young people do not like farming. Agriculture is not their thing. But when they were introduced to the digital aspect of it and how they can introduce digital economy into their country, then this sparked their interest in that particular space. This can be a very exciting innovation in the agricultural space for our young people. We have counties that are agriculture-based. This will really benefit the young people from there. The Bill will create and give incentives such as tax holidays that I spoke about on duty and Value Added Tax (VAT). It will also attract angle investors whose investments are recognised and de-risked to a certain degree, in case the start-up does not take off in a certain period. Angel investors are people who believe or buy an idea that a young innovator has. They would like to invest in it, but they do not have the right framework to do it. This Bill will enable them and people who really believe in the dreams of young people to invest in them. Pursuant to Article 96 of the Constitution, the Senate - where this Bill came from - is tasked with the role of protecting the interests of counties. This Bill outlines the role of both the national Government and the county governments in the registration of start-ups. Therefore, it articulates clearly the role of county governments, facilitates start-ups and incubation programmes. Although obtaining support of the national Government is critical, efforts must be concentrated at grassroots level. In this case, the role of county governments in supporting start-ups become prominent. The President celebrated one year of e-Citizen today. It has assisted people to register businesses in the counties. So, this will work in line with that and make the process even more seamless for the young people who do not necessarily have to come all the way to Nairobi City, Kisumu City, Mombasa City and Eldoret City to register"
}