Kenya Must Find Its Own Path in the Digital Age
Kenya has never been shy about trying new things.
Think about how quickly mobile money became part of everyday life. Today, sending money, paying a bill, buying something from a small shop or running a business from a phone feels completely normal.
That is part of what makes Kenya’s digital story interesting. Some of the country’s biggest technology successes were not copied from somewhere else. They grew out of problems Kenyans needed to solve.
Now, as artificial intelligence and other new technologies begin changing the way we work and live, Kenya faces a similar moment.
Should we simply follow what other countries are doing, or should we take the lessons that make sense and create our own way of doing things?
Fred Waithaka, Safaricom’s Director of Regulatory and Public Policy, believes Kenya should do the latter.
Kenya has always had its own digital story
There is a reason mobile money took off so strongly in Kenya.
For many people, the mobile phone was more accessible than a traditional bank. Small businesses needed simple ways to receive payments. Families needed an easy way to send money to one another. And millions of people were already comfortable using their phones for everyday communication.
The technology fitted the way people lived.
That is an important lesson as Kenya looks at what comes next.
The country’s digital economy is expected to keep growing, with technology already playing a major role in business, finance, communication and access to services.
Safaricom’s own evolution also reflects how quickly this space is changing. M-PESA, launched in 2007, has grown from a mobile money service into a much wider financial and digital ecosystem.
The next chapter could be even bigger.
AI is changing the conversation
Artificial intelligence is no longer something that only belongs in science-fiction movies or big technology companies.
People are using AI to write, learn, create images, analyse information and make everyday tasks easier. Businesses are also beginning to explore how AI can improve customer service, payments and operations.
Kenya is therefore having to think about how these technologies should be managed.
And there is plenty to learn from other countries.
Europe, for example, has developed major rules around artificial intelligence and digital platforms. Such frameworks can offer useful ideas about safety, consumer protection and accountability.
But Kenya is not Europe.
A Kenyan student using affordable mobile data, a small trader running a business through their phone and a European corporation operating in a highly digitized market do not have the same needs.
So copying rules word for word may not always be the answer.
Sometimes the basics matter more
There is also a temptation to talk about the future while forgetting that many people are still trying to get properly connected to the present.
For some Kenyans, the biggest technology challenge is not how to use AI.
It is the price of a smartphone.
Or the cost of data.
Or unreliable connectivity.
Or simply not knowing how to use some of the digital services that are already available.
That is why Kenya’s digital future has to be about more than the latest technology.
It also has to be about making sure ordinary people can participate.
Affordable devices, reliable internet, digital skills and good infrastructure may not sound as exciting as artificial intelligence, but they can make a much bigger difference to someone’s everyday life.
The government has also recognized the importance of expanding digital infrastructure, skills and access as part of the country’s wider digital transformation agenda.
We don’t have to get everything right on day one
One interesting idea is giving new technologies room to be tested before creating permanent rules around them.
This is where regulatory sandboxes come in.
The concept is fairly simple: allow businesses to test new products or ideas within a controlled environment while regulators observe what works, what doesn’t and where the risks might be.
That can be particularly useful in technology because things change so quickly.
By the time a rule is written, approved and implemented, the technology itself may already have moved on.
Testing and learning can help regulators keep up without unnecessarily slowing down innovation.
Kenya can teach too
Perhaps the most important part of this conversation is remembering that Kenya is not always the learner.
Sometimes, the country has something to teach the rest of the world.
M-PESA is probably the clearest example.
What began as a solution designed around everyday Kenyan needs grew into one of the world’s best-known mobile money success stories. Safaricom itself describes M-PESA as a platform that has expanded beyond simple money transfers into payments, financial services and wider digital opportunities.
That experience should give Kenya confidence as it enters the AI era.
Instead of always asking, “What are other countries doing?”, perhaps we should also ask, “What do Kenyans actually need?”
How can AI help a small business keep track of its money?
How can technology make learning easier for a student?
How can digital services make healthcare more accessible?
How can a farmer get useful information without needing to understand complicated technology?
Those are the kinds of questions that can lead to solutions that work not just in Kenya, but across Africa.
The future should feel Kenyan
Kenya does not need to choose between learning from the world and doing things its own way.
There is plenty of value in watching what other countries are getting right. But there is just as much value in understanding what works for Kenyan people.
After all, some of Kenya’s most successful digital ideas came from doing exactly that.
The next big innovation may not necessarily be the one with the most impressive technology.
It could be the one that solves an ordinary problem in a simple way.
As Kenya moves deeper into the digital age, perhaps the goal should be straightforward: take the good ideas from everywhere, adapt them to our reality and create solutions that actually make life better.
Because Kenya’s digital future does not have to look like anyone else’s.
It just has to work for Kenya.
