Kenya and Egypt have agreed to accelerate cooperation in the information and communication technology sector, with the two countries moving to operationalise a bilateral ICT agreement aimed at boosting digital skills and technology collaboration.
Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo announced the development following talks with Egypt’s ICT Minister Raafat Hendy on the sidelines of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum in Geneva.
Kabogo said the two countries had agreed to move the Kenya-Egypt ICT Memorandum of Understanding from the negotiation stage to implementation, with a joint technical team expected to begin work immediately.
“Today in Geneva I met H.E. Eng. Raafat Hendy, Egypt’s ICT Minister and Chair of this year’s WSIS Forum. We agreed to move the Kenya-Egypt ICT MOU from paper to action,” Kabogo said.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, the joint team will hold its first meeting in Nairobi within the next 45 days to develop an implementation framework for the partnership.
A key pillar of the collaboration will be digital skills development targeting young Kenyans through community-based technology centres across the country.
“Skilling comes first. Egypt is sharing its Digital Egypt training curricula, and we will roll them out to our young people through the digital hubs in every ward and our Jitume centres,” Kabogo said.
The partnership is expected to strengthen Kenya’s digital transformation agenda by expanding access to technology training and equipping young people with skills required in the growing digital economy.
Egypt has emerged as one of Africa’s leading digital economies, particularly in areas such as digital government services, ICT training and technology innovation, making the partnership significant for Kenya’s ambitions to become a regional technology hub.
The collaboration also aligns with the government’s efforts to expand digital opportunities through the rollout of ward-based digital hubs and the Jitume programme aimed at increasing access to online jobs and technology skills among the youth.
