TEHRAN – Iran House of Innovation and Technology (IHIT) was officially inaugurated in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday, as the first center in Africa.

Vice-President for Science and Technology, Sourena Sattari, officially opened the center which serves as a base for the creation of innovative ideas, the commercialization of these ideas, and the export of Iranian knowledge-based products and services to the East African market.

The IHIT, by supporting innovative ideas, holding technological and innovative events will be a platform for the development and promotion of Iranian knowledge-based companies, startups, and creative industries.

In the first step, this Innovation House will host the Techstars Startup Weekend event as a start for innovative and technological activities in East Africa, with creative and innovative teams.

The Techstars event, as the first activity of the Iran House of Innovation of Technology, will be held from February 29 to 30 to pave the way for interaction and innovative cooperation among the two countries.

At the event, innovative idea owners, programmers, knowledge-based companies, startups, creative industries, marketers, and graphic designers come together to come up with innovative ideas to convert ideas to services.

Sattari has headed a 40-member business delegation to Kenya, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Technology development in Iran

Despite sanctions putting pressure on the country, a unique opportunity was provided for business development and the activity of knowledge-based companies in the country.

Currently, some 5,000 knowledge-based companies are active in the country, manufacturing diverse products to meet the needs of the domestic market while saving large amounts of foreign currency.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

In recent years, the vice presidency for science and technology has been supporting knowledge-based companies active in the production of sanctioned items.

Sattari told the Tehran Times in October 2020 that “U.S. sanctions caused exports of knowledge-based companies to decline three years ago, however, it has returned to growth and is projected to reach the pre-sanctions level of more than $1 billion by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 20, 2021).

Fortunately, last year, companies achieved a record sale of 1.2 quadrillion rials (nearly $28.5 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), which is expected to increase by 40 percent this year.”

To date, 42 knowledge-based companies with a total value of 2.8 quadrillion rials (nearly $66.6 billion) have been listed on the stock exchange and they will soon turn into the biggest businesses in the county, Sattari said.

FB/MG