ICT Week 2023: Kenya Banks on Technology for Economic Development

The Kenyan government is committed to expanding the ICT space as it seeks to leverage technology as a catalyst for economic growth and development.

The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Mr. Eliud Owalo cited ICT as an enabler, and the focus is on how to make this a reality.

The government recognizes the ICT sector as a cog in our economic engine and has identified priorities through the Government Digital Transformation Agenda (GoDTA).

This agenda seeks to digitize at least 80% of government services in five (5) years, support last-mile fibre connectivity through the deployment of 100,000 kilometres of fibre, 25,000 WIFI hotspots across the country and ICT hubs in each of the 1,450 wards in the country.

The local assembly of smartphones and smart gadgets will be a game-changer in proving that Kenya has the technological capacity to venture into the manufacturing and assembly sector.

The government has been actively engaging diverse stakeholders in the ICT and manufacturing sectors on the prospects of producing low-cost smartphones and lowering data costs.

“Based on feasibility studies undertaken, we can locally assemble smartphones at a unit cost of about $40. We’ve partnered with the private sector to ensure in the next two months, we can roll out our first consignment of low-cost smartphones,” said Mr Owalo when he launched the ICT week on Wednesday.

“We are alive to the question of the affordability of ICT devices as a potential hindrance to the ability of citizens to exploit the full potential that this sector presents.”

“The forum really speaks to the need to continually reflect on how best to tap into the sector’s immense potential,” the CS said.

The ICT week is themed, “Digital Inclusion: Enhancing Access and Usage of ICTs for All.”

The Communications Authority of Kenya acknowledged the enormous efforts that continue to be exerted by licensees to enhance access to various communications services across the country.

As of December 2022, there were 65.7 million mobile subscriptions in the country, accounting for a mobile penetration rate of 133.1%. At the same time, there were 47.7 million mobile data subscriptions, while the available international bandwidth was 11,970 Gbps.