ICT sector gets Sh7bn boost to drive growth

The 2010/11 Budget will develop skills to drive the growth of Information and Communications Technology — an industry set to be the engine of economic growth.

The government has invested in fibre optic networks to lower the cost of doing business by providing cheap connectivity to the rest of the World.

In the 2009/10 financial, Kenya witnessed the landing of the undersea fibre optic cable, The East African Marine System (TEAMs) that cost $120 million and the National Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI), which are already running. More are being rolled out.

If approved by Parliament, the ministry will receive Sh7 billion, of which Sh1.5 billion will be used to pay salaries and allowances. The ministry has been allocated Sh5.3 billion to spend on its development activities.

Invested heavily

To increase uptake of ICT services, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta allocated Sh1.3 billion to buy 300 computers in each constituency. “The government will source the computers from public institutions with assembly facilities. I believe this will benefit our students taking ICT and computer studies,” he said.

“We have invested heavily in ICT and it is only prudent to invest in our education system to bridge the digital divide,” Mr Kenyatta said. To fully exploit the investment, Mr Kenyatta allocated Sh560 million to upgrade all 14 public information, science and technology colleges.

The budget was silent on Business Outsourcing and Processing and ICT Park.