Grace Ashiru
Kenya’s state-backed financial centre is doubling down on artificial intelligence. The Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC) has deepened its strategic partnership with ChainBLX SPC, reinforcing Kenya’s position as Africa’s leading gateway for innovation, capital formation, and digital transformation.
The expansion builds on prior engagement through ChainBLX’s SCC Fund SP, now extending into the Art Fund SP and its portfolio company FlowPrompt.ai — described as a visual, no-code AI orchestration platform. The tool enables users to build AI-driven workflows by integrating multiple models and data streams without writing traditional code, lowering the technical barrier for developers and startup founders across the continent.
Central to the partnership is the launch of the Prompter Community. The initiative is designed to nurture Africa’s next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, developers, and creators through a series of hackathons, investment opportunities, and capacity-building programmes.
Applications are open to Kenyan innovators, developers, and startups through the FlowPrompt.ai platform until 1 September 2026. Selected participants will receive complimentary platform access, mentorship opportunities, and exposure to potential investment pathways
The stakes are high for participants. The top teams will be unveiled in January 2027 at Digital Davos, an event organized by ChainBLX that runs concurrently with the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. NIFC CEO Daniel Mainda will serve as a head judge for the hackathon series, signalling formal government-level commitment to the programme.
ChainBLX CEO Karl Seelig described Kenya as presenting “one of the most forward-looking investment environments globally”, while Mainda framed the initiative in terms of agency rather than participation: “Kenya is no longer simply participating in the global digital economy; we are deliberately shaping its future.
The partnership is the latest in a broader pattern of public-private collaborations positioning Nairobi as a continental hub for AI talent development and digital capital flows — with the NIFC acting as both institutional anchor and gateway for global investors seeking entry into Africa’s fast-growing tech ecosystem.
