By 
Kenya Must Learn From the World Without Losing Sight of Its Own Digital Reality
Kenya’s digital economy has grown into a major driver of economic activity, but its next phase of growth may depend on a different kind of innovation: building policies that reflect the country’s own realities.
That is the central argument made by Fred Waithaka, Director of Regulatory and Public Policy at Safaricom, in a recent commentary on Kenya’s approach to technology regulation.
Kenya has built a reputation as a digital innovation hub, particularly through mobile money. According to Communications Authority sector statistics cited by Waithaka, mobile money penetration has surpassed 100 per cent of registered accounts, with 53.4 million active subscriptions. The mobile money agent network also grew by more than 100,000 outlets in a single quarter.
The opportunity extends beyond mobile payments. The GSMA projects that Kenya’s digital economy could contribute KSh662 billion to GDP by 2028, create 300,000 jobs and generate an additional KSh150 billion in tax revenue.
For Waithaka, these figures demonstrate what can happen when policy gives innovation room to develop around local needs.
Kenya’s Digital Success Was Built Around Local Needs
Kenya did not build its digital economy by simply copying models from mature markets.
Its digital ecosystem developed around mobile phones, mobile money, informal businesses, affordability challenges and a young entrepreneurial population. These factors created a market that differs significantly from those in Europe and other developed economies.
That difference matters as Kenya develops policies for artificial intelligence, satellite connectivity and other emerging technologies.
Waithaka argues that global regulatory frameworks can provide useful lessons. However, Kenya should not adopt them wholesale.
The European Union’s AI Act, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act and ETSI standards offer valuable reference points. Yet the rules that work in mature digital markets may not always fit Kenya’s infrastructure, consumers and businesses.
The question, therefore, is not whether Kenya should learn from the rest of the world. It is how it can learn without losing sight of its own circumstances.
Kenya Must Learn From the World Without Losing Sight of Its Own Digital Reality
Mobile Money Offers a Valuable Lesson
Kenya’s mobile money journey provides an example of what locally responsive regulation can achieve.
Rather than forcing mobile money into an existing banking framework from the beginning, regulators allowed the service to develop under oversight. As its risks and use cases became clearer, formal safeguards followed through the National Payment System Act of 2012.
This approach allowed innovation and regulation to develop alongside each other.
Waithaka argues that a similar test-and-learn approach could guide Kenya’s emerging technology policies, including the Draft Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies Policy 2026.
The proposed framework includes a National AI Council, risk-based classifications and regulatory sandboxes. These tools could allow regulators to understand new technologies and their impact before imposing permanent rules.
The objective is not necessarily lighter regulation. Instead, it is regulation that responds to evidence and fits the market.
Regulation Should Support Innovation
As Kenya prepares for the next phase of digital growth, policy decisions will have implications far beyond technology companies.
Tax policy, infrastructure investment, energy access, fiscal decisions and regulation will all influence how quickly businesses and consumers can adopt digital services.
Connectivity remains a major consideration. The GSMA estimates that 60 per cent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa who live within mobile broadband coverage still do not use mobile internet, with affordability, digital literacy and device access among the key barriers.
This means Kenya’s digital policy cannot focus solely on sophisticated technologies.
Expanding access to affordable connectivity, strengthening infrastructure and supporting experimentation will remain equally important.
The Universal Service Fund could play a greater role in closing connectivity gaps. However, this will require coordination between national and county governments and other agencies responsible for infrastructure, roads, electricity and wayleaves.
Building Policy Confidence
Kenya already has considerable technical expertise within its regulatory institutions.
The challenge, according to Waithaka, is increasingly about confidence in using that expertise to make decisions that balance regulation with commercial realities.
Regulators must consider how compliance costs affect businesses while also providing the policy certainty that encourages investment.
Regulatory sandboxes offer one way to achieve that balance. The Communications Authority, Capital Markets Authority and Central Bank of Kenya already use sandbox approaches to test emerging business models before establishing permanent rules.
Such mechanisms could become increasingly important as artificial intelligence, fintech, satellite connectivity and other technologies reshape the economy.
From Kenyan Innovation to African Influence
The bigger opportunity may be for Kenya to move from being a consumer of global policy ideas to becoming a contributor to the global regulatory conversation.
Kenya’s experience with mobile money has already demonstrated that solutions developed around African realities can achieve significant scale.
The same thinking could apply to emerging technologies.
Rather than asking how Kenya can reproduce regulatory frameworks developed elsewhere, policymakers can ask what lessons are relevant, what needs to change and what new approaches Kenya can develop itself.
That approach could also strengthen Kenya’s position within the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area as countries work towards greater digital integration.
Ultimately, the policy challenge is about finding the right balance: learn from the world, but regulate for Kenya.
As Waithaka puts it, the goal should be to start with Kenya’s realities, learn globally with discernment, regulate locally and use regulation to unlock innovation and scale.
For a country that has already demonstrated its ability to build globally recognized digital solutions, the next opportunity may be to show the world how locally grounded policy can help shape the future of Africa’s digital economy.
Comments