In 2013, Kenya’s ability to stay regionally competitive and politically stable will be put to the test. This makes it arguably Kenya's most significant year for innovation to date. Here’s a compilation of our personal tech wish list and the headlines we should expect.

Kenya Creates Tablet Computer

South Africa, Nigeria and Congo all have locally designed, assembled and launched tablet computers. I expect Kenya to join their ranks in 2013. The University of Nairobi’s fablab (fabrication laboratory) headed by Dr. Kamau Gachigi has been making great progress. FabLab’s convergence of engineering, rapid prototyping and design disciplines could finally be Kenya’s breakthrough in IT.

e-Decision 2013

2012 saw interesting ideas come to fruition in anticipation of our general election such as Mzalendo.com's re-launch. The platform gives citizens the ability to quantify the impact and efficacy of their members of parliament. This is done by providing detailed profiles of MPs, a searchable version of the Hansard records (transcripts of parliamentary debates), and scorecards, including vital statistics of most counties and constituencies. In addition, there's been the use of apps such as Msema Kweli, which allows citizens to examine and interrogate the spending at their constituency level.

M-Pesa comes of age: apps, APIs and the layer grows

M-Pesa celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2012. Safaricom’s mobile money service has reached a critical mass, transforming the economy and becoming the benchmark for global financial inclusion. It has also revolutionized the realm of personal finance as we know it. But for the last two years, the question has been what’s next for M-Pesa? It would seem that there’s more in store in 2013. Recently, Safaricom redirected its previous efforts from the M-Kesho service (a bank account system enabling users to transfer funds between an Equity Bank account (M-Kesho and M-Pesa) to Commercial Bank of Africa and the M-Shwari service. This system also uses M-Pesa and turns the phone from a wallet into a proper bank complete with savings of as little as KES 10 and loans of as much as KES 100,000. Also, Kopo Kopo has created technology that allows any business to accept payments via M-Pesa. Google’s experiments with the Beba card (a transport payment card) combines Near Field Technology (NFC) and mobile money thus allowing commuters to go cashless when paying for public transport as witnessed along select routes with the Citi Hoppa buses in Nairobi.

The Device Space: Sub Smartphone Wars

Sixty-day battery life on a smartphone or a wind-up charger for a mobile phone with basic Internet access are some of the ideas you can expect to see in 2013. As more companies begin to look at the African middle class, not as consumers but creators, and as a distinct market worthy of distinct products, we can expect great new technology launched with the "Africa first" stamp on it. The "feature phone" space is set for new devices and competition to take place with the aim of tapping into the new and emerging African middle class.

Silicon Savannah Takes a Hit and Comes out Swinging

Even as investment into technology grows, the supply of ideas and entrepreneurs does not necessarily match this. It is now evident that the output, the businesses and the talent available in the Kenyan market are wanting. Thankfully, before 2013 it is expected that over 15 new startups will graduate from several accelerator programs across the city. This will mean that their revenue potential, talent and initial capacity to create value will have been proven, tested and retested. This will then put the fresh crop of techpreneurs in prime positions to continue to fundraise. Kenya's most significant year is upon us and it looks like technology is stepping up to the plate to become a thriving industry. Proving that it can contribute to Kenya’s success and stability as the country marks its Golden jubilee.

Mark Kaigwa is a speaker, writer and consultant on emerging media in Sub Saharan Africa. More at www.mark.co.ke