Browsing: Innovation in East Africa

In this column called “The Indicator,” we will be taking an economic or financial statistic from East Africa and breaking it down into bite-sized nuggets of knowledge for investors. 

This month’s indicator figure is 816. 

816 of what? 

There are a total 816 innovation professionals in East African Community (EAC) countries as identified by inclusion of the word “innovation” in their current public job description according to a series of searches using the popular professional social networking site, LinkedIn.     

This Indicator figure certainly does not incorporate all people involved in innovation, but seeks to use this metric as a rubric to stimulate discussion on the importance of innovation in East Africa for business competitiveness.   

What do you mean by innovation professionals?  

Innovation is defined as the process of creating a new method, process, product, or service.      

People whose job is focused on innovation are considered innovation professionals who are typically