The Kenyan government plans to lay 52,000 kilometres of the proposed 100,000 kilometres of the national fibre optic cable, while the private sector will handle the rest, according to the country’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo.
Speaking at the 12th edition of the Connected Summit, Owalo stated that the involvement of the private sector is crucial to the government’s digital transformation agenda.
The government has already held meetings with private companies to determine which entity will be responsible for rolling out each component of the fibre, with deadlines and targets also agreed upon.
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The government is also aiming to onboard 100% of government services onto the eCitizen portal ahead of the June deadline. Owalo said that when the government took over the portal two months ago, only 350 services were onboard. Now, over 4,200 services have been added to the system.
The government is also set to lay down an initial 5,000 kilometres of the fibre cable by June, with the full rollout of 100,000 kilometres expected to occur over the five-year term of President William Ruto.
The project, which was announced by Ruto shortly after he took office, falls under the infrastructure pillar of Kenya’s digital transformation agenda. It aims to speed up internet connectivity across the country, making access more reliable and stable.