Kenya has outlined an ambitious plan to position itself as a leading artificial intelligence hub in Africa, supported by a structured policy framework and significant financial investment. The government has launched a five year National Artificial Intelligence Strategy that will require an estimated Sh152 billion to implement between 2025 and 2030.
The strategy, released on March 27, 2025 by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, sets out a roadmap for integrating artificial intelligence across key sectors of the economy. These include agriculture, healthcare, education, security and public service delivery, with the goal of driving innovation, economic growth and broader social inclusion.
Speaking at the launch in Nairobi, Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo emphasized the importance of shaping the country’s approach to emerging technologies. “The question is not whether we shall adopt AI but how we will shape it to keep Kenya future ready in the global digital economy,” he said. He added that while automation may change the nature of work, it is also expected to create new opportunities, noting that “AI is changing the nature of work. While some work will be automated, it will also create new job spaces.”
The strategy is built around six core pillars. These include digital infrastructure, data governance, research and innovation, skills development, investment frameworks and ethical considerations, as well as inclusion. Implementation will be carried out in phases over the five year period.
A central component of the plan is the expansion of data centre infrastructure to support AI development. In May 2024, Microsoft, in partnership with G42, announced plans to develop a data centre campus powered by geothermal energy from Olkaria. The project, valued at about 1 billion dollars, is expected to enhance cloud computing capacity and support digital government platforms such as eCitizen.
Further developments in 2025 saw Nairobi’s IXAfrica data centre campus partner with Safaricom to deliver infrastructure capable of supporting artificial intelligence workloads. The broader investment initiative also includes efforts to develop AI models in both English and Swahili, reflecting a push to create locally relevant technologies.
Kenya’s ambitions are also aligned with wider continental efforts. During the Nairobi AI Forum held on February 9 and 10, 2026, development partners including the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme launched an initiative aimed at mobilizing up to 10 billion dollars by 2035 to support AI development across Africa.
Despite these developments, challenges remain. Africa currently accounts for less than one percent of global AI computing capacity and investment. Kenya’s Special Envoy for Technology to the United Nations, Philip Thigo, warned in February 2025 that limited access to computing power and data infrastructure could slow adoption. He noted that the main divide in artificial intelligence is not access to applications but access to the underlying computing resources.
Estimates suggest that data centre capacity in Africa’s major markets will need to expand significantly by 2030 to meet growing demand. The extent to which the country achieves its ambitions will depend largely on how effectively the planned investments are mobilized and translated into infrastructure, skills and innovation on the ground.
