Burgeoning ingenuity see in east Africa with spate of competitions tapping entrepreneurial innovation.

Necessity might be the mother of invention and so, despite a number of governance and other issues, Kenya has remained one of the most innovative regions in the world.

Kenya ranks 106th out of 139 countries for competitiveness, according to the Global Competitiveness Index 2010-2011 rankings by Switzerland-based non-profit World Economic Forum.

The litany of issues is steep: life expectancy of 54 corruption and state bureaucracy, terrorism and organised crime. The country remains in a nascent economic status where a…