Uhuru urges peers to adopt digital policies for growth

Kenya has called on peers in the region to adopt similar policies on ICT in order to create a digital “ecosystem” to grow economies.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Digital Economy Blueprint promises to create a nation “where every citizen, enterprise and organisation has digital access and the capability to participate and thrive in the digital economy”.

The proposals, the product of contributions from government departments and tech firms, cautiously embrace new technologies like blockchain to be central to government services.

“New and emerging technologies are expected to change and improve many fundamental tasks and interactions in the coming years, including work ethics, travel and communication,” the document says on the pledge to support tech innovations.

“Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things and quantum computing, among others, present significant opportunities for Kenyans.”

SMART AFRICA

Blockchain, which is a series of digital records that run on a cryptic network, enables users to complete transactions securely.

But as with most new technologies, the blueprint says, harnessing the disruptive nature of these new technologies to build a digital economy will require “huge capital investments in research and development”.

The President launched the blueprint on Wednesday in Kigali, Rwanda, during the Transform Africa Summit — the flagship event and platform for heads of states to push the Smart Africa Agenda.

Mr Kenyatta — alongside leaders from Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Gabon and Burkina Faso — were among the first to endorse the Smart Africa manifesto in 2013 to provide leadership in development through ICT.

INTERNET

Government officials see the blueprint as Kenya’s contribution to championing the growth of an African-wide digital economy, especially under the Smart Africa Alliance members.

“We are the new frontier for trade and investment with estimates indicating that by 2025, business opportunities in Africa will be about $5.6 trillion (Sh560 trillion),” Mr Kenyatta told the audience in Kigali.

“Achieving ubiquitous, fast, and inexpensive internet connectivity for African businesses and households is critical to unlocking the potential of the digital economy,” he said. It is not the first time the government is promising to invest in the digital economy.

In 2013, the Jubilee campaign team listed two dozen programmes for transforming Kenya into a double-digit annual growth economy.

IDENTIFICATION

The new document, which emphasises the need for a universal identification system, is divided into five pillars which include digital government, digital business where traders interact on a platform, affordable infrastructure, an entrepreneurial ecosystem that promotes innovation, and empowering a workforce to adopt digital systems.

“This blueprint proposes that a digital government is a prerequisite for a digital economy. To enhance the security of the digitised system, there is also a critical need to authenticate people and/ or businesses through a digital ID. Digital IDs will enable trust and promote other aspects of the digital economy including digital financial services.”

The document says the government will act as “an orchestrator of the national ecosystem, a controller of significant natural and monetary resources, and finally as the indicator of preferred direction to the private sector”.