Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is a planned postgraduate-only public university under construction in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. The establishment of the university is aimed at meeting the shortage of highly skilled engineers, needed in the country and the region, to drive Kenya into an industrialized nation by 2030.
| Website | kenya-aist.ac.ke |
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Location
The university is under development on a 22 acres (9 ha) plot of land in Konza Technology City, in Machakos County, close to the county’s borders with Makueni County and Kajiado County. This is approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi), by road, south-east of the central business district of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, along the Nairobi–Mombasa Road.
Overview
The Government of Kenya, in collaboration with the county governments of Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado counties, and the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), plan to establish an advanced institute of science and technology. The institute is planned to be an all-postgraduate research public university.
After competitive bidding, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology won the bid to design the university curriculum. A consortium of two Korean architectural and engineering firms of “Samoo” and “Sunjin”, won the bid to design and construct the university campus. Those contracts were signed in November 2018.
Construction and funding
Construction is funded by a KSh10 billion (US$72 million) loan from the Export–Import Bank of Korea to the Kenyan government. The facilities are expected to be ready in 2021, with the first intake of 200 postgraduate students starting classes in 2022.
Academics
The university will start with six initial departments:
