![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thefocuspaper.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261027-WA0011-1-1024x472.jpg\")
Obora urged participants to use the conference to build partnerships and advance their projects beyond exhibitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the 2027 session would assess the progress made by participants in securing partners, funding and technical support, developing business models, testing prototypes and establishing enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The session would also examine stalled projects, identify barriers to progress and seek practical solutions, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2028, organisers expect to see functioning enterprises, innovations entering markets, products under development or in production, and investment and commercial contracts being signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Above all, the conference aims to create employment on a significant scale, Obora said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our ambition is for the enterprises emerging from this process to employ hundreds and, collectively, thousands of people. That is our goal, and we must measure our progress honestly,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the conference’s success should be measured not only by attendance or certificates awarded but also by partnerships established, resources mobilised, enterprises developed, contracts concluded and jobs created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisers would track the same projects across all three sessions to establish whether ideas presented in 2026 translated into partnerships and enterprise development in 2027, followed by commercial and employment outcomes in 2028, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Africa does not merely need more conferences discussing unemployment. Africa needs conferences that help produce employers,” Obora said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2027 Check-Point Session and the 2028 Delivery Session have been set aside for African venues, ensuring the continent remains central to the process of turning talent and ideas into investment, businesses and jobs, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of the 2026 Convention Session, African countries will be invited to bid to host either or both future sessions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenya, including Kisumu, will be eligible to compete alongside other interested countries and cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prospective hosts will be expected to demonstrate their facilities, organisational capacity, financial commitments, partnerships and readiness to advance the conference’s objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The selection will follow the applicable international hosting and approval procedures, Obora said, adding that the outcome should not be prejudged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also called for greater recognition of natural talent and practical experience in education, saying verified work, business, professional and life experience could provide a foundation for further learning and academic advancement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the university supported Talent-Based Learning, Experience-Based Learning and Recognition of Prior Learning, approaches intended to help individuals demonstrate existing knowledge and skills, receive recognition for verified competencies and pursue appropriate qualifications through assessment and quality assurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obora said he had encountered resistance in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa while advocating for the recognition of natural talent, demonstrated competence and experiential learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I advocated recognition of natural talent, demonstrated competence and experiential learning, sometimes in the face of hostility and dismissal. Later, elements resembling ideas I had long advanced appeared in reform discussions and initiatives such as Competency-Based Curriculum and Recognition of Prior Learning,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the impact of the 2026 conference should extend beyond its closing ceremony, with institutions expected to help students and innovators secure partnerships, protect their intellectual property, commercialise their work and create jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The African Talent University (TATU) has identified 130 presenters for assessment during the weeklong World Talent Conference 2026 in Kisumu County, its founding director, Professor Humphrey Obora, has said. Obora, who is also hosting the conference, said the presenters had been identified from among exhibitors participating in the talent search conference at the institution’s campus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thefocuspaper.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261027-WA0009-1-1024x472.jpg\")
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