Young Creatives Challenged to Design Kenya’s New Face of Innovation

Young Creatives Challenged to Design Kenya’s New Face of Innovation

Kenyan youth unveil the national logo design competition, taking up the challenge to shape the visual identity of the country’s expanded innovation agency.

By Jeff Oyugi 

Nairobi - September 2, 2026

Kenya’s ambitious push to expand its technology and innovation hubs across the country has taken a creative turn, with the newly established Technopolis Development Authority inviting young designers from all 47 counties to create a logo that will define its new national identity.

The Authority, formerly known as the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), is inviting young designers aged between 18 and 35 from all 47 counties to compete for the opportunity to create its new visual identity.

The initiative comes after the enactment of the Technopolis Act, 2026, which transformed the Authority from an institution primarily associated with Konza Technopolis into a national State agency with a broader mandate to plan, develop, manage and promote technopolises across Kenya.

The change has also created the need for an institutional identity that is distinct from Konza Technopolis, Kenya’s flagship smart city and a key project under Vision 2030, while retaining the credibility and experience accumulated through more than a decade of developing the project.

Rather than contracting a private design firm, the Authority has opted to involve young Kenyan creatives directly, positioning the competition as both a branding exercise and an opportunity to nurture talent in the country’s growing creative economy.

Chief Executive Officer John Paul Okwiri said the new identity should reflect an institution that is expected to play a central role in Kenya’s technological and economic transformation.

“We are inviting Kenyan youth in the creative community to help shape the identity of the Technopolis Development Authority, an institution that represents where our country is going,” said Okwiri.

He said the initiative goes beyond a conventional logo competition, arguing that the winning concept will help communicate the Authority’s expanded role nationally and internationally.

“This is more than a logo competition; it is an opportunity for young designers to shape a national identity for the environments where innovation, enterprise, research and investment can thrive,” he said.

Dubbed “Designing the Symbol of Kenya’s Innovation Future,” the competition is already open for entries, with the closing date expected to be announced on the official competition portal during September 2026.

Entrants are required to submit a primary logo mark alongside black-and-white and light- and dark-background versions. They must also provide a concept explanation of not more than 150 words and demonstrate how the proposed identity could be applied in at least three settings, including a letterhead, social media profile and building signage.

The Authority said participants are not required to develop a complete brand manual at this stage, with emphasis instead placed on a strong and adaptable visual concept capable of evolving into a comprehensive institutional identity.

A total prize fund of Sh1 million has been set aside for the competition, with the overall winner set to receive Sh300,000. Other shortlisted participants will also receive cash awards, with details expected to be published through the competition portal.

The initiative will also provide selected participants with mentorship from experienced professionals in the creative industry. The programme is expected to expose emerging designers to brand identity development, design thinking and creative entrepreneurship.

For the Authority, the mentorship component is as important as the financial rewards, particularly as Kenya seeks to turn digital and creative skills into sustainable employment and enterprise opportunities for young people.

The competition is being implemented through the Authority’s Jitume Digital Enablement Programme, which has so far empowered more than one million young Kenyans with digital skills, access to digital work opportunities and pathways into the digital economy.

The Authority sees the involvement of Jitume beneficiaries as an extension of its broader effort to ensure that young people are not merely consumers of technology but active participants in building the country’s digital future.

The expanded institutional mandate comes at a time when Kenya is seeking to position technology, research, innovation and digital enterprise as drivers of economic growth.

Under the Technopolis Act, 2026, the Authority has been given a strengthened statutory foundation to plan and develop technopolis infrastructure, allocate land to investors, provide one-stop regulatory and licensing services, and coordinate research and innovation ecosystems in collaboration with universities and the private sector.

The Authority will also continue overseeing Konza Technopolis, which remains its anchor project and one of the country’s most ambitious investments in smart-city infrastructure.

The transition, however, does not erase the institutional history of the former KoTDA. Existing rights, contracts and obligations of the former Authority remain in force under the new framework, providing continuity as the institution assumes its wider national responsibilities.

Okwiri said the Authority’s role should no longer be viewed solely through the lens of managing a single development.

“Our mandate is not only to manage a city,” he said. “It is to build and sustain the institutional platform that turns Kenya’s investment in technopolises into measurable, broad-based economic value.”

The new logo is therefore expected to communicate more than technological sophistication. It will have to capture the Authority’s national scope while conveying ideas of innovation, investment, research, enterprise and inclusive economic opportunity.

For the young designers taking part, the competition presents an opportunity to influence how a major public institution will be perceived as Kenya expands its network of technology-driven urban and innovation hubs.

The winning design is expected to be unveiled publicly later this year, coinciding with the formal launch of the Technopolis Development Authority’s new visual identity and its expanded national mandate.

As Kenya looks beyond Konza to a wider network of technopolises, the Authority is betting that the symbol representing that future can emerge from the imagination of the very generation expected to build it.