Kenya Plans To Monetise Government Data

Kenya is preparing to commercialise anonymised government data through a proposed national marketplace, positioning itself among the first African countries to formally treat public-sector data as a revenue-generating national asset.

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MICTDE) has unveiled a draft National Data Governance Policy that seeks to establish the legal, commercial and governance framework for monetising non-personal government data. Central to the proposal is the creation of a National Data Governance and Emerging Technologies Council, which would oversee the aggregation, management and sale of public datasets to businesses, researchers, innovators and non-governmental organisations.

The council aims to make at least 1,000 datasets available over the next five years, with the project expected to cost approximately $3.07 million to develop and operate. The initiative is also projected to generate revenue for the government through licensing and data access fees.

A dedicated Data Governance Office would be responsible for managing daily operations, setting pricing structures and administering licensing models, while also providing free access tiers for public-interest and research purposes.

The datasets earmarked for commercialisation include business registration trends, passport and immigration application volumes by region, birth, death and marriage registration statistics, vehicle registration records, land transaction volumes, traffic flow patterns and regional agricultural production data. Information from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and other government agencies would also be integrated into the platform.

The government has emphasised that personal information such as names, phone numbers, national identification numbers and images will remain protected and excluded from commercial use in line with Kenya’s data protection laws.

The proposal comes as Kenya seeks to strengthen its position as a regional digital economy hub. Estimates by the U.S. International Trade Administration suggest that the country’s data economy could attract approximately $806 million in data centre investments by 2031 while accelerating growth in the artificial intelligence sector, currently valued at about $240 million.

The policy draws inspiration from international examples, including Singapore’s tiered public data access model and the United Kingdom’s Ordnance Survey, which generates significant annual revenue through the licensing of geospatial data to private-sector users.