Kenya: Kenya is positioning itself as a leading digital and data hub in Africa, with the government intensifying policy reforms, infrastructure expansion and private sector partnerships aimed at accelerating growth of the country’s digital economy.
According to Kenya News Agency, State Department for ICT and The Digital Economy Principal Secretary, Eng John Tanui, said the government is implementing a wide range of reforms to strengthen data governance, expand digital infrastructure and attract investment in data centers and emerging technologies. Speaking on Friday during a high-level engagement with data and cloud industry partners, Tanui said Kenya’s economic transformation agenda is increasingly anchored on digital systems across key sectors including health, agriculture, education and public service delivery.
He noted that Kenya has already made significant progress in digitizing public and private sector systems, pointing to improvements in digital infrastructure that have enabled farmers to access inputs and boost productivity, as well as ongoing digital transformation in healthcare and other sectors. According to PS, the government has already put in place foundational policy frameworks designed to make Kenya attractive to investors in the digital space, including reforms targeting internet investment regulations, digital taxation and cloud computing infrastructure.
Tanui said Kenya is also in the final stages of developing a cloud policy that will guide public and private sector access to cloud infrastructure and services, alongside a national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and emerging technologies framework. He emphasized that data governance remains central to the country’s digital ambitions, noting that AI development relies on three key pillars: infrastructure, data, and skills.
The government, he added, is also working on a structured approach to data management that would enable what he described as ‘data financing,’ allowing the sector to be treated as a key economic driver alongside traditional industries. Kenya is also advancing interoperability across government systems through enterprise architecture frameworks designed to ensure that public institutions operate on integrated digital platforms.
Tanui further revealed that Kenya is strengthening collaboration with global partners, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to support open-source development and digital innovation ecosystems. He said the country has already attracted global technology players and innovation hubs, including development centres and training facilities from multinational firms.
The PS noted that Kenya currently hosts nearly 20 operational data centres and is aiming to significantly expand capacity to meet rising regional demand. He added that the country’s digital economy is projected to grow substantially, with estimates indicating expansion from about $7 billion to $100 billion by 2035.
Tanui said the government is actively engaging development partners such as the World Bank to expand regional connectivity infrastructure linking Kenya to Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan under ongoing digital and trade facilitation projects. He highlighted plans to enhance the port of Mombasa as a strategic submarine cable hub, including proposals for a maintenance station to improve resilience and reduce downtime in undersea communication networks.
On investment facilitation, Tanui said the government is working to streamline access to special economic zones and address infrastructure gaps, particularly in power supply, connectivity and reliability, which remain key requirements for data centre expansion. He stressed that Kenya’s ambition is to become the continent’s leading data infrastructure hub, leveraging its strategic location, growing connectivity networks and expanding digital ecosystem.
The PS urged private sector stakeholders to actively engage government in shaping policy direction, noting that sustained collaboration will be critical in unlocking the full potential of the digital economy. He added that the government is open to proposals that can help scale the sector’s contribution to national growth, including increasing the digital economy’s share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) significantly in the coming years.
Tanui noted that with coordinated effort between government, industry and development partners, Kenya could accelerate its digital economy contribution to as much as 25 per cent of GDP in the near term, positioning the country as a leading digital powerhouse in Africa.
