Kenyan Gov’t To Roll Out 100,000Kms Of Fibre Network

President William Ruto has said that the Kenyan government will invest over $300 million (Ksh45 billion) to roll out additional fibre networks across the country to boost youth employment.

Dr Ruto made the remarks at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi County on Tuesday where he opened the 2022 Kenya Innovation Week Expo.

“We are going to invest over $300 million to roll out 100,000 kilometres of new fibre network to provide Internet in 29,000 schools, 26,000 markets, and ensure that every home that is connected to the electricity is also connected to the Internet.”

The President said the government would partner with stakeholders to create platforms that foster innovations, promote start-ups, strengthen research, and propel the uptake of emerging technologies. “Through innovation, we can re-imagine and re-engineer our economy. We will keep supporting the production of requisite skills for developing demand-driven innovations that are globally competitive,” he pledged.

The Head of State added that the government would set up a start-up fund to support the innovation ecosystem in Kenya. “The government will ensure there are sufficient resources for young people to take a risk with the ideas they have. We will use the startup fund to make innovations a reality and scale them up,” he stated.

The Kenya Innovation Week (KIW) is an annual forum for the country run by the Kenya National Innovation Agency (Kenia). It seeks to showcase the innovativeness of Kenyans.