DRICE Innovation Officer Mr. John Nderitu (seated, center) poses with student representatives during an entrepreneurship workshop hosted by the Directorate for Research, Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (DRICE) at Nairobi Campus on August 12, 2026.

By Beatrice Macharia

[Nairobi: Wednesday, 12th August,2026] The Directorate for Research, Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (DRICE) hosted a dynamic student-centered workshop at the Nairobi Campus Mezzanine floor.

The event, themed “Empower Africa’s Next Generation of Creators”, brought together student representatives across all academic years and programs, to equip them through practical lessons on innovation, value creation, and entrepreneurial problem-solving.

DRICE Innovation Officer and the Facilitator Mr. John Nderitu,  set the tone by quoting Albert Einstein: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper questions to ask.” This punctuated the workshop’s focus on problem identification as the foundation of innovation.

Nderitu emphasized the importance of research in innovation, saying that “Problem-solving without research is like second-guessing in the dark.” While knowledge can never be excessive, the real danger lies in having too little. The goal, he explained, is not infinite research, but guided research, a focused exploration that provides clarity, direction, and validation.

He further stressed that innovation is “novelty plus usefulness,” explaining that people pay for three things namely solutions that eliminate problems, convenience that simplifies tasks, and experience that offers something unique.

Students were introduced to the Ishikawa (Fishbone) diagram, a visual tool for identifying the root causes of problems. Nderitu stressed the importance of guided research, affinity mapping, and clarity in defining problems. He urged students to run the “four-filter test” for problem statements namely: specific, evidence-based, influencable, and painful.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Nderitu expressed his vision that Daystar University should not only produce job seekers but “job creators.” He emphasized that as students culminate their studies in the University, they are expected to launch startups, driven by their innate ability to identify and solve problems.

The guest speaker Mr. Fred Muli who is an entrepreneur, TED speaker, and board member of Youth+ Africa, shared the organization’s journey since its founding in 2016. Created by Muli and his peers while still in university, the initiative was born out of a desire to address Kenya’s youth unemployment crisis. Surveys revealed that the job market could not absorb the growing number of graduates, and that nearly two-thirds of businesses failed within the first two years, often due to poor planning, weak team structures, and limited access to capital.

Over time, the organization’s mandate has evolved. As Muli noted, youth advocacy was often led by non-youth voices, so Youth+ Africa sought to empower young people directly. In the post-COVID era, digital platforms transformed

opportunities: with just a phone and internet access, wealth creation became possible.

Today, Youth+ Africa focuses on identifying talents, linking them to opportunities, connecting them with resources, and deploying them into the job market. Their mission is to move beyond unemployment solutions and instead unlock diverse skills and unique capabilities for sustainable futures.

Giving a real-life case study, Muli recounted a Turkana innovation story where boreholes were drilled to reduce women’s long treks for water. Years later, the women continued walking the same distance not for water, but for socialization and safe space. This illustrated the danger of solving the wrong problem.

To gauge entrepreneurial spirit, Muli asked students to share their side hustles. Several raised their hands, revealing ventures in graphic design, photography, and videography – all proof that Daystar students were already actively creating value.

This event was more than a training; it was a call to action. It challenged students to embrace innovation, sharpen their problem-solving skills, and dare to try.

As he closed the workshop, Nderitu stated: “The quality of the problem matters more than the originality of the solution.”