CS Matiang’i to visit India, launch India-Africa Partnership Summit 2015

The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr Fred Matiang’i, is set to visit India between July 6 -10 during which the visit, Kenya and India will launch the India-Africa Partnership Summit 2015 (India Show on IT & Telecom).

The summit itself is scheduled to take place in Nairobi on 28th-29th September at KICC. CS Matiang’i will make the visit with a Kenyan delegation made up of officials from the ICT Authority, Communication Authority of Kenya and Kiambu County Government.

The announcement was made through a letter from Ministry of ICT addressed to various media personalities.

“At the visit, Kenya and India will also launch the India-Africa Partnership Summit 2015 (India Show on IT & Telecom), which is scheduled to take place in Nairobi on 28th-29th September at KICC,” states the letter.

The letter also explains why the visit is important and how it will benefit Kenya in her goal of becoming a leading IT nation in the region and globally.

“The Ministry of ICT, Kenya, has been working to enhance collaboration between Kenya and India in the field of Information, Communications and Telecom,” it states, adding: “It is well-known that India has developed a flourishing ICT sector and, in particular, Information Technology sector of software, BPO, outsourcing, hardware, electronic manufacturing, which contributes an excess of US$120 billion to the economy annually.”

“Kenya is looking towards becoming the leader in ICT in the African continent. Already, a number of initiatives are ongoing to ensure that the sector is competitive. In this context,The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr Fred Matiang’i, will be leading a delegation to India from July 6th -10th, 2015 at the invitation of Minister of Communications & Information Technology of the Govt. of India, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad,” it continued.

Other offerings during the visit includes field visits to top global ICT companies, started in India by Indians, in New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune.

These companies include, C-DOT, Tata Consulting Services (TCS), Infosys, Tejas, Wipro, Zensar and Softage. These companies are leading in R&D, Training, BPO & ITes and IT Hardware companies, with most already having footprints in the Africa market and looking to invest more through partnering with local Kenyan companies.

Other topics to be discussed include Spectrum Auction, Net Neutrality, Regulatory Best practices, e-citizen services and training. The delegation will also be exposed to the smart city concepts and ideologies.

During the tour the Cabinet Secretary will help deepen the collaboration between India and Kenya in the below areas:

Capacity: Industry Capacity and Skills for ICT Officers;

Promotion of ICT Trade in the two countries;

Information exchange on Information Security.