Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The UoN Hult Prize On-campus program held its finals & award ceremony on the 27th November, 2020 at the UoN Towers, Chandaria Auditorium from 9:00am to 1:00pm. The event was graced by the Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Zack Kinuthia.          

The event marked the culmination of the 2020 On-campus program which was centered around the theme "Transforming food as a vehicle for change" #FoodForGood. The Participating Students, for three months had been trained & challenged to think of innovative and entrepreneurial ways to address the global challenge of food crisis & the re-emerging food supply chains. Six best teams had been picked through the competitions held over the 3-month period.

The Chief Guest in his remarks said “young people must be aggressive and must decide to be involved in the nation building, nothing comes on a silver platter and you should never expect anything to come easy”

He challenged the young people to be at the forefront in the transformation of their communities and applauded the Hult Prize program which has given the young people a platform to exhibit their innovation and entrepreneurial skills and ability.

The Keynote Speaker, Dr. Tonny Omwansa, the CEO, Kenya National Innovation Agency, made a presentation on “Enabling innovation for socio-economic development” where he challenged the narrative on innovation, in his part, he emphasized the need of embracing impact-oriented approach and assessment when engaging in business. The talk on linking up of academic researchers and entrepreneurs also emerged in his presentation.   

The University Management led by the DVC Research Innovation & Enterprise Prof. Horace Ochanda who represented the Vice Chancellor, challenged students to commercialize their ideas. He affirmed the university’s commitment in supporting innovation among the young people who are the hope of our country.

The lead Judge, Robert Yawe announced the winners of the Hult Prize challenge who would be heading to the regionals to represent the university. The winning teams were:

  1. Team Cornucopia
  2. Team Bacapo
  3. Team Agriconcepts

We wish the teams the very best in their journey to the regionals in Cairo, Egypt!

Also present in the event was the National Youth Council represented by Madam Viridiana Wasike on behalf of the CEO, Mr. Roy Sasaka. The Hult Prize Global Management team led by Africa Regional Manager Mr. Cliff Nyakundi. The UoN Hult Prize team led by the Campus Director, Mr. John G. Mwati, the MC for the day was Mr. John Orindi, Director Corporate Affairs.