Kenya on track in advancing inclusivity, sustainability in digital transformation - PS Tanui

According to the GSMA State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report (SOMIC) 2024, Kenya depicts an urban- rural divide in digital access and inclusivity. The divide is seen in ownership of mobile devices, internet awareness, and adoption.

To bridge this divide, the government, through the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy has outlined a plan to enhance inclusivity through digital infrastructure, digital services and data management, digital skills, data innovation, entrepreneurship and digital business.

During the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, ICT and Digital Economy Principal Secretary John Tanui expressed government’s commitment to advancing inclusivity through skilling, setting up policy and regulatory frameworks and collaborating with the private sector.

“A number of projects have been put in place to ensure there is inclusivity at the foundation of the digital super highway and creative economy initiative. It includes building an additional 100 km of fibre optic infrastructure aimed at connecting over 74,000 public institutions, government offices, schools and hospitals,” Tanui told delegates at MWC.

The PS added that Kenya, through setting up of public Wifi facilities and digital hubs in wards, aims at providing access for all and incentivising e-commerce.  This, he said, is through partnerships such as Huawei’s Digiskills project.

“We are also enabling the private sector to accelerate broadband connectivity through fibre to homes and to businesses. With an aim of adding another 8.5 million connections,” added Tanui.

The minister also detailed plans for aggressive digitisation of services through connecting Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions across the country. He cited the success in the digitisation of government services through the eCitizen platform.

According to Tanui, the skilling programs offered in partnership with key players such as Huawei and the UNDP, target nearly 20 million Kenyans of different demographics.

“The main objective of these digital skills is to connect youthful population to job opportunities and enable them to explore digital entrepreneurship and innovation,” he stated.

To enhance this inclusivity, GSMA’s Senior Advocacy Manager Ann Shannon explained how its Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit (MISTT) has been used to train over 70 million people in 40 countries.

MISTT offers training in smartphone functionality, online safety, responsible usage securing accounts and utilising online resources.

At the roundtable, UNESCO’s Senior Education specialist Ramon Iriarte shared challenged stakeholders to change approach on digital skilling, so as to focus of specific needs of target population.

“We need to identify how to provide most relevant response in terms of cultural relevance, language, location. We also need to think that the need for skills is rapidly changing so we need to develop capacity of adaptability,” said Iriarte.

The Education Specialist also explained the need for restructuring education systems to ensure inclusivity and adherence to labour market demands.

“Traditional education system has focused on primary, secondary education and higher education. But what happens to youth with formal education?”