WIPO Director General Daren Tang visited Nairobi, Kenya from June 5–6, 2025, for a series of high-level engagements aimed at strengthening cooperation with national stakeholders and supporting Kenya’s innovation and creative ecosystems through intellectual property (IP).
In a meeting with President William Ruto, Mr. Tang noted that Kenya’s increased investment in R&D demonstrates the prioritization of the country’s innovation ecosystem in support of its economic development goals. President Ruto emphasized that the proposed Kenyan National IP Policy and Strategy recognizes IP as the instrument that will unlock the nation’s natural, cultural and knowledge assets with emphasis on supporting start-ups and IP commercialization.
At the Kenya Startup Festival, Mr. Tang met with Kenya’s vibrant startup community and lauded the country’s dynamic entrepreneurial spirit — an ethos of resilience, creativity, and self-driven entrepreneurship. The Director General also keynoted at World Anti-Counterfeit Day celebrations, hosted by the Kenyan Anti Counterfeit Authority (ACA).
Highlights of key engagements:
- Discussed opportunities to strengthen collaboration with WIPO in a meeting with President Ruto.
- Met with Dr. Korir Sing’oei, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, for discussions on international IP cooperation and Kenya’s role in regional and global IP dialogue.
- Delivered a keynote speech at the Kenya Startup Festival, hosted by Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) and attended by university innovators, startup founders, investors and representatives from global partners. Mr. Tang underscored how IP can be a game-changer for local innovators seeking to scale their ideas, secure investment and expand regionally and globally.
- Engaged Cabinet Secretaries for Investment, Trade and Industry and for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, as well as Principal Secretaries and heads of key IP agencies including ACA, the Kenya Copyright Board, the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), to advance cross-sectoral collaboration on IP policy.
- Delivered a keynote address at the national celebration of World Anti-Counterfeit Day, commending Kenya’s progress in enforcement and awareness-raising, and welcomed the launch of two new ACA research reports on counterfeiting.
- Interacted with senior faculty at the University of Nairobi during a fire side chat on “Research and Intellectual Property in Social and Economic Development,” engaging academics and students on the role of IP in research, commercialization and nation-building.