Nairobi, Aug. 11 -- Kenya has no shortage of engineering ingenuity. Across the country, small enterprises fabricate metal products, repair machinery, install renewable-energy systems, build construction components and develop agroprocessing equipment. The problem is not entrepreneurial activity but fragmentation.

A skilled engineering micro-enterprise may still lack precision machinery, testing facilities, certification, specialist designers or access to larger supply chains.

One possible solution is Embedded Micro-Industrial Systems (EMIS). The idea is simple: small engineering enterprises do not need to become miniature large factories.

They can remain independently owned and specialised while accessing expensive capabilities collect...