MKU students heading to Germany for an innovation exchange program

Three students among the rest emerged victorious in a rigorous process conducted at the institution and will represent Mount Kenya university in Germany. Joy Watiti, Clifford Musyoka and Mark Kiarie will compete in a two-and-a-half-month innovation exchange in Munich, Germany.

The initiative is part of the ‘Africa Meet program’ by the Digital Product School at UnternehmerTUM, which is the Germany’s leading innovation and business creation center. This was after a successful completion of a five month intensive training program. The program which began in December, 2024 constituted of 30 students drawn from different universities and involved working in diverse teams of five whereby students turned innovative ideas into potential startups by developing digital products prototypes.

The program was in partnership with The Technical University of Munich(TUM) and trainers from MKU. All the 30 students who participated received certificates from TUM.

For Joy, Clifford and Mark, this is not just an academic achievement but a personal milestone. Having spent months refining their ideas and building prototypes, they are now prepared to not only share their work but also learn from some of Europe’s great minds in innovation and entrepreneurship.

“This exchange is more than just a learning experience and it’s a chance for these students to engage directly with the global innovation landscape and understand perspectives that will impact their skills in the communities,” uttered Donatus Njoroge, Head of Innovation, Intellectual property and Community Engagement at MKU, who oversaw the training program.

MKU Vice Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi, also commended the students for leveraging the university’s innovation and incubation center and encouraged them to be good ambassadors for MKU and to seize opportunities during their exchange visits to innovation hubs in Bavaria between May and July 2025.

The trio is expected to attend innovation bootcamp, visit hubs and accelerators and take part in collaborative projects with their German counterparts.

The experience is designed to expose them to real world problems faced by modern economies and each is expected to work on projects that will help solve real world problems from healthcare and education to environmental sustainability. The exposure to Germany could provide them with tools and insights to scale to greater heights. The program wish to enhance cultural exchange and mutual understanding by bringing together young innovators from Africa and Germany to bridge geographical and cultural divides to foster long lasting collaborations.

The Africa Meet program is expected to expand with a second group of students set to participate as well in late 2025. With the growth of the program, the potential for deeper collaboration between Africa and Europe grows as well.