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{
    "id": 1506861,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1506861/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 365,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "As I have said, one of the clearest things is clear licensing and regulatory frameworks. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to advise two internet companies that first came here - Africa Online and Nairobi Net. There was no registration process. I advised them to start the business and the law would follow them. African Online followed and they became very successful. Nairobi Net waited for the law to come into place and they never caught up with African Online. Start-ups also need access to non-recourse funding and, more so, in the form of equity as opposed to loans. We need to strengthen Article 27 so that part of the incentive frameworks is how we can engineer that equity access for start-ups. Many Members have talked about intellectual property rights. It is a well-known fact that the start-up companies probably do not even have the legal knowledge on how to manoeuvre and get the protection of their intellectual property rights. It has also been observed by economists that you can tell the future of a country by just going to the register of its intellectual property. The more they have and the more that are registered annually, the more progressive that country is. We need to strengthen those provisions as well as give guarantees of access to Government contracts, especially for start- ups. We already have the 30 per cent for youth and women, but we need to have another category for start-ups. For example, most of the Korean companies you see are chaebols that are supported by the government, both in terms of funding and in terms of contracts. On legal support, this Bill needs to figure out how to extend legal support to start-ups for purposes of not only negotiating good contracts, but also ensuring compliance with various laws. Another area is business development support. This Bill needs to be expanded to include housing like the Kenya Institute of Research and Development Institute (KIRDI). Where do you incubate? I mean somebody will have an idea. You do not want him to be in a garage. He needs an office where he can access internet, have meetings and collaborate. We need to do that. Most importantly, they need business development support in terms of what Hon. Melly has said, which is a transition from informal to formal. Apart from a non-recourse funding in terms of equity, start-ups also need access to capital markets. If you go to the developed capital markets, there are always special segments for start-ups. We need to figure out how to include that in this Bill, together with linkages with established firms for support and coaching. Finally, we need to create a broader – not just national but multilateral – financing framework to support start-ups. We have very many agencies that offer credit insurance and credit support, like the African Trade Insurance Agency. We need to also include that so that we can combine easy registration, good legal advice, affordable financing and access to government markets in order to have a very robust start-up environment for our youths. With those remarks, I support."
}