President William Ruto on Tuesday hosted the Kenyan students who made history after winning the country’s first-ever Grand Prize at the Huawei ICT Competition Global Finals.
The students were received at State House, Nairobi, weeks after delivering Kenya’s best performance since joining the global competition in 2019.
The biggest achievement came when the Kenyan Cloud Track Team won the Grand Prize, the highest award in the competition. Kenya also won a First Prize in the Network Track and the Women in Tech Award.
The competition attracted more than 220,000 students and instructors from over 100 countries, making Kenya’s victory one of its biggest achievements on the global technology stage.
Congratulating the team, President Ruto said the students had proved that Kenyan talent can compete with the best in the world.
“The future will not belong merely to those who master today’s technologies. It will belong to those who imagine, invent and build the technologies that the world has not yet conceived,” Ruto said.
He urged young people to embrace emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and biotechnology, saying they hold the key to the country’s future.
“The nations that cultivate innovators rather than mere consumers of technology will be the nations that lead the 21st Century,” he added.
The historic Grand Prize was won by the Kenyan Cloud Track Team comprising Kevin Tuei of Tharaka University, Catherine Atieno of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Brian Ngugi Kamau of Mount Kenya University and Salem Kim Lumumba of Machakos University.
Their victory marked Kenya’s first Grand Prize since joining the Huawei ICT Competition in 2019 and cemented the country’s growing reputation as a producer of world-class technology talent.
The State House meeting was a moment of recognition for the students, whose success has inspired many young Kenyans pursuing careers in technology and innovation.
