By Lenah Bosibori
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating Kenya’s digital economy by strengthening the ecosystem for data centre operators and cloud service providers as demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing continues to grow.
Speaking at a strategic consultative forum at the Kenya School of Government, Eng John Tanui the Principal Secretary in the State Department for ICT and the Digital Economy, Kenya is fast emerging as the digital gateway to Eastern and Central Africa.
“Kenya is positioning itself as a leading African hub for data centres and artificial intelligence computing infrastructure, supported by ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, expanding connectivity, stable regulation, renewable energy potential, and rising regional demand for cloud services,” said Eng Tanui.
He noted that the country already hosts several major carrier neutral and enterprise data centres operated by firms including IXAfrica, Africa Data Centres, Safaricom, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, iColo, Dimension Data, as well as the Konza National Data Centre at Konza Technopolis.
Kenya also benefits from strong international connectivity, with more than eight submarine cable systems landing in Mombasa, including TEAMS, SEACOM, EASSy, DARE1, PEACE, and 2Africa among others.
“This gives Kenya significant redundancy, resilience, lower latency, and a strategic advantage for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, fintech, and enterprise digital services,” said Eng. Tanui.
He added that Kenya has invested heavily in terrestrial fibre infrastructure to support nationwide digital transformation and regional integration.
According to the PS, global technology companies are increasingly viewing Kenya as a strategic destination for cloud services, artificial intelligence workloads, enterprise hosting, and digital innovation.
He noted that Oracle has confirmed plans to establish a cloud region in Kenya following extensive engagement and assessment, signaling growing investor confidence in the country’s digital future.
Eng. Tanui said the Government’s focus is to accelerate Kenya’s digital ecosystem and strengthen its position as a competitive global technology hub, noting that cloud services and data centres form the backbone of the modern economy by powering public services, securing national data, and enabling artificial intelligence growth.
He emphasized that the private sector plays a central role in this transformation, saying that true digital acceleration requires capital, technical expertise, and innovation from industry leaders working alongside government.
The forum brought together key industry players including iXAfrica Data Centres, iColo, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Oracle, Safaricom, and Airtel, whose investments are helping translate national digital policies into operational infrastructure.
To support this growth, he said the Government is rolling out a clear and predictable regulatory framework anchored on the National Cloud Services Policy, the Data Governance Policy under development, the Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies Policy under development, the Government Interoperability Framework, and the Government Enterprise Architecture.
He added that these reforms are designed to support cloud first governance, strengthen data protection, improve efficiency in public service delivery, and enable secure digital transformation across sectors.
Eng. Tanui said Kenya’s digital strategy is anchored on cloud first governance, infrastructure driven growth, data sovereignty, and youth empowerment through digital jobs.
“Our goal is clear. Kenya must not only consume technology but host, build, and scale it for Africa and the world,” he said.
He thanked industry partners for what he described as a productive and forward-looking engagement aimed at strengthening Kenya’s digital future.