09/03/2026
The Institute for International Business (IIB) at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business was pleased to participate in the Selected Universities in Kenya (SUiK) Consortium engagement, hosted at Kenyatta University’s Regional Leadership Center East Africa.
The engagement brought together leaders from Kenyatta University, Kirinyaga University, Zetech University, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, African Talent University, and the University of Iowa to explore the establishment of Artificial Intelligence Centres of Excellence (AICoEs) across participating institutions.
Representing the University of Iowa were Russell Ganim, Associate Provost and Dean of International Programs, and Dimy Doresca, CGBP, Executive Director of the Institute for International Business and Clinical Associate Professor at Tippie College of Business. The discussions, guided by Prof. Washington Okeyo and Prof. George Kosimbei, focused on how universities can build sustainable AI ecosystems that connect research, teaching, entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialization, industry collaboration, and societal impact.
A central theme of the conversation was that an AI Centre of Excellence must go beyond physical infrastructure. As Dean Ganim emphasized, these centers can serve as collaborative hubs for developing AI talent, advancing multidisciplinary research, accelerating responsible innovation, strengthening university–industry partnerships, and developing solutions to real-world challenges in Kenya and beyond.
For IIB, the discussion also reflects an important dimension of our broader engagement with Kenyan universities: connecting international business, entrepreneurship, innovation, and emerging technologies to create opportunities for students, faculty, institutions, the state of Iowa, and industry partners.
As AI continues to reshape education, business, and society, collaboration among universities will be critical to ensuring that African institutions are not simply consumers of AI technologies, but active contributors to their research, development, commercialization, and responsible deployment.
We look forward to continuing to work with our Kenyan partners to translate these conversations into sustainable institutional partnerships and impactful AI ecosystems.
