Kenya digital push trains 2 million youth, creates 300,000 online jobs

Kenya’s three-year digital transformation has trained nearly two million young people in digital skills and created 300,000 online jobs, President William Ruto said in Parliament on

Thursday.

Ruto said government investments in fibre-optic infrastructure, public Wi-Fi, and innovation hubs have transformed how Kenyans live, work, and do business.

“Over the past three years, our digital transformation agenda has become one of the most powerful engines of renewal, a quiet revolution changing how Kenyans live, work, learn,

and do business,” said Ruto when he delivered the State of the Nation Address.

Since 2022, the government has laid 24,000 kilometres of fibre, extending connectivity to rural and peri-urban areas. Public Wi-Fi hotspots have grown to nearly 1,500, giving youth,

traders, and innovators free internet access in markets, bus parks, schools, and community spaces.

The administration has opened 300 digital innovation hubs, with 400 more underway, providing training, mentorship, and workspaces for startups, freelancers, and digital service

providers.

“These hubs are gateways where ideas grow and enterprises begin,” Ruto noted.

Ruto highlighted the growth of eCitizen services from fewer than 400 in 2022 to 22,500 today, calling Kenya “one of the fastest digital migrators in the world.”

He said the shift has improved access to public services, reduced bureaucracy, and limited corruption.

The President noted the government’s approach mirrors global models, drawing lessons from South Korea and Japan, which achieved rapid industrial growth through investment in

people.

“It would be easy, almost comfortable, to pause and congratulate ourselves. But comfort is how nations stall. We cannot allow that. We must not allow it,” Ruto said, urging Kenya to

sustain investment in skills and connectivity to achieve large-scale growth.