Prospects for Information and Communications Technology-Enabled Services in Kenya

Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa. It is also the most diversified when the ratio of agriculture to other sectors is compared. Services form a small but fast-growing sector; however, national income and export revenue are dominated by agriculture. Kenya has experienced tremendous growth in ICT which drives economic growth. This growth can be ascribed to the embrace of technology for the distribution of information and service delivery improvement. Kenya shows it has the potential to become a global leader in ICT services. In addition to contributing to GDP, ICT enables innovation, production, and efficiency gains across several sectors key to Kenya’s economic growth. ICT services-led innovations such as M-PESA, the pioneering mobile money platform, have led to financial inclusion. Kenya’s overall ranking within the African region as measured by the International Telecommunications Union ICT Development Index is higher than Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.