Wazo

Better Never Ends

Encapsulating the spirit of ambition and creativity among the Youth

Wazo is an Invention and Innovative (Tech and Non-Tech) youth-focused program designed to empower, engage and nature the Youth in a comprehensive approach to sustainable development through their Startups

It address the pervasive issue of youth unemployment, high failure rate of start-ups, critical need to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding patenting processes, protecting the intellectual property of Innovators and enabling them to fully capitalize on their innovative ideas.

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Thematic Areas

“No one climbs to the top of Mount Everest without extensive preparation — and plenty of support. And in many ways, bringing an innovation to scale is much like the journey up a mountainside to reach the peak of it.”

Climate Action focus underscores the urgent need for innovative solutions to combat climate change and promote sustainable practices. Innovation plays a critical role of mitigating climate change, protecting the environment, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tapping the youth potential is critical for better practices like climate-smart agriculture, Drone Tree planting & Monitoring and Carbon calculator due to their innovativeness and energy.

Youth participation in agriculture has been declining over the years in Kenya. Youth Labour force in agriculture in 1995 was 60.72%. Twenty-five years later, it has declined to 28.47% in 2020.1 Despite agriculture being central to addressing youth unemployment, the youth are increasingly turning away from agriculture to seek for what they believe to be profitable and business-focused careers. This decline in youth participation is a major concern because the youth can be a resource in agriculture by replacing the aging farmers in the sector. Inventions and Innovations in the sector is key to unlocking its potential

Health is transformative, this means better access systems and connecting communities to the right health professionals and facilities is paramount hence need for more improved and innovative ideas for such linkages.

In the realm of Governance, inventions and innovations are the guiding light of progress. Wazo is dedicated to fostering innovation within governance structures. We believe that embracing innovation is paramount for governments and public institutions to thrive in the modern world. Wazo brings together innovative and forward-thinking leaders, policymakers, and tech pioneers to explore and implement cutting-edge solutions. It aims to reshape the landscape of governance by infusing it with innovative ideas, digital transformation, and a fresh perspective. The new ideas are to ensure governments adapt, evolve, and efficiently address the ever-changing needs of their citizens. With Wazo, we embark on a journey of reimagining governance, where innovation becomes the cornerstone of progress and where the public sector evolves as a catalyst for positive change in society.

Wazo recognizes that the worlds of Talent and Arts are rich sources of innovative thinking and problem-solving. Artists possess a unique ability to perceive the world differently, challenge norms, and inspire fresh perspectives. Whether it’s through music, visual arts, dance, or any other creative medium, artists have the power to provoke thought, emotion, and change. The Wazo program aims to harness this potential to ignite innovation.

Impact & Scalability factors

To deliver results of Impact and scalability for the projects depends on close and strategic partnerships. This includes leveraging on our partners rich and diverse resources, knowledge and experience in the different thematic areas. The Factors include;

Innovation

Safeguarding

Financing

Wazo Objectives

Create an entrepreneurial advocacy agenda and a networking forum, which brings together youth and industry leaders in different sectors.
Identify, nature and Empower youth with skills in Technology, Health, Climate Action, Governance, and Health.
Foster innovation and entrepreneurship among youth to drive economic transformation through linkages
Promote community-led initiatives that prioritize sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience.
Encourage youth engagement in local governance and decision-making processes.

Wazo Phases

The WAZO program will take 4 phases which include;

a) Policy Briefs Development

The first phase of the WAZO program will involve a series of webinars and workshops. The policy briefs will serve as foundational guidelines for the subsequent stages of the WAZO program, which include grassroots engagement and a competition for youth innovators.By linking policy advocacy with practical innovation, the WAZO program will bridge gaps between policy and practice, fostering a healthy innovation environment and empowering youth to drive sustainable change by informing all stakeholders involved in innovation in the country.

b) Regional Engagements & Policy Briefs Dissemination

The second phase of the program will include engaging the Youth in the five tracks to inform the inventions and innovations they will be competing in as well as disseminating the policy briefs developed during the first phase. Some of the engagements will tackle Advocacy issues like patenting which is critical due to abuse and manipulation in the creative industry as well as Civic engagement to address various gaps in governance and legislation. The engagements will involve other relevant partners including policy makers. The Youth engagements will be done through the County Special Economic zones.

c) Competition

After the Public engagements, Youth will register to participate in a competition to solve some of the gaps/challenges identified or highlighted in the different tracks through the following process; 1. Assessment & selection 2. Prepare for battle 3. Time to pitch It has the Wazo PAS( Wazo Panorama, Wazo Assessment and Wazo Strategy) , which includes submission stages for an innovator as highlighted in the PAS section. All applications are done as per county, targeting in school (Universities and TVETs) and out of school youth. The selected competitors will be prejudged and passed on to an independent panel of judges.

d) The Deal Room

The Deal Room gives the competitors a chance to pitch/defend their innovations, engage the public and seek for investors before the grand winner is announced. It also provides a platform for building an Innovators community in Kenya together with investors and Tech stakeholders. The summit will bring together leading experts in the mentioned tracks driven by Technology, which ensures the Innovators and all attendees access premium content from the speakers. The Deal Room process will include; - 10 Minute Pitch Judging Process Investormoment Updating & Upskilling

The Wazo Competition PAS

Wazo Panorama

Requires a participant to provide a 500-word vision on how their innovation might look like in 5-10 years. After looking at the long-term plan, participants are asked to think about the whole journey that will take them there, considering the barriers or success factors that will help them along the route to the pinnacle.

Share Point

Asks participants to assess the solution and go through an imaginary stress test: • Do they have a value proposition that defines their innovation’s features and benefits? • Do they have organizational capacity, leadership buy-in, and enough finances? To explain • Do they have the right people on the team to take this vision to scale? This process envisions the initial phases like two to three years along the scaling journey, and includes exercises to help participants outline their goals in each step along the way.

Wazo Assessment

Participants to assess the solution and go through an imaginary stress test: • Do they have a value proposition that defines their innovation’s features and benefits? • Do they have organizational capacity, leadership buy-in, and enough finances? To explain • Do they have the right people on the team to take this vision to scale? This process envisions the initial phases like two to three years along the scaling journey, and includes exercises to help participants outline their goals in each step along the way.

Wazo Strategy

Takes participants back to the panorama. The innovators consider what they learned and developed in the Wazo assessment stage, exploring any gaps that may exist in crucial areas such as IP, solution integrity, organizational capabilities, and their network and partners. They come up with priority gaps in these areas, the tactics to bridge those gaps, and any assumptions they can make to allow them to achieve those tactics. This stage allows us measure the innovators on their capacity to address any problems, and the expected output in scaling the solutions. Individuals or Teams should be able to come up with a pager on the major steps on what they need to do, or who they need to approach next to scaleup their innovations.