Our Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Henry K. Kiplangat, is leading the university’s delegation at the highly anticipated 4th Commercialisation and Entrepreneurial Institutions Leaders (CEIL) Summit 2025. The summit, one of Africa’s premier gatherings for innovation and entrepreneurship, is taking place from September 11–12, 2025, at the world-class PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort, Convention Centre & Spa in Mombasa.

Prof. Kiplangat is accompanied by a strategic team of faculty members and senior officials from the Directorate of Research, Innovation, and Outreach. 

Co-hosted by the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) and the Network of Entrepreneurial Institutions Leaders (NEIL), the CEIL Summit serves as a pivotal platform for institutional leaders, researchers, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and investors. This year’s theme, “Catalyzing Our African Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems,”  highlights actionable strategies to transform academic research into market-ready solutions that fuel sustainable growth, job creation, and wealth creation across the continent.

The 2025 summit builds on the resolutions of CEIL 2024, which included formalizing the KNEIL network, expanding institutional commercialization support, and establishing an early-stage innovation fund set to be launched at this year’s event.

The summit opened with a series of pre-event sessions designed to equip leaders with practical strategies for advancing innovation:

• NEIL Council Meeting: A strategic forum for vice-chancellors to align on continental priorities.
• KeNIA Technology Transfer Training:  Hands-on training to strengthen research commercialization.
• Policies for Innovation Commercialization:  A deep dive into policy frameworks that enable innovators to thrive.
• Vice-Chancellors’ Training on Entrepreneurial Leadership: A session on embedding entrepreneurial thinking at the highest levels of academic leadership.
• Lessons from South Africa: An inspiring keynote by Dr. Edwell Gumbo on building a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The main agenda features panel discussions, fireside chats, and breakout sessions on topics such as:

• Leveraging artificial intelligence in research and entrepreneurship.
• Developing venture-based curricula and challenge-based learning models.
• Strengthening industry-academia linkages for commercialization.
• Exploring the role of shared infrastructure (such as Konza Technopolis) and alumni networks in driving innovation.

For Kabarak University, CEIL 2025 is more than a conference; it is a strategic opportunity to advance the university’s long-term vision. Under Prof. Kiplangat’s leadership, Kabarak is intensifying its research capacity, cultivating entrepreneurial mindsets among students and faculty, and championing technology transfer as a tool for societal transformation.

By participating in the summit, Kabarak University aims to:

• Deepen partnerships with peer institutions, industry leaders, and investors.
• Showcase its growing innovation agenda and impactful research on a continental stage.
• Benchmark against best practices in technology transfer and commercialization.
• Contribute to shaping policy dialogues that will influence the future of innovation in Kenya and Africa.

As the conversations in Mombasa unfold, Kabarak University continues to stand tall among leading institutions shaping Africa’s innovation landscape. The delegation is expected to return with valuable insights and partnerships that will empower students and researchers to become not only consumers of knowledge but also bold creators of solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges.