EU and Kenya launch first Digital Dialogue to deepen technology cooperation

The European Union and Kenya today launched the EU-Kenya Digital Dialogue, marking a significant step in strengthening cooperation on digital policy and technological innovation. With the launch, Kenya becomes the first country in Africa to have a Digital Dialogue with the EU, joining partners such as Brazil and Australia.

Hon. William Kabogo Gitau, Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, and Ms. Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect) at the European Commission, made the announcement during the EU Tech Business Offer Forum in Nairobi. The forum brought together over 100 European and Kenyan policymakers, technology companies, development finance institutions, and investors to explore opportunities for collaboration in Kenya's rapidly growing digital economy.

The dialogue will focus on priority areas of mutual interest, including:

• Telecommunications and digital networks infrastructure
• Artificial intelligence innovation and ecosystems
• eGovernance including Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

H.E. Henriette Geiger, Ambassador of the European Union to Kenya said "The EU-Kenya Digital Dialogue is about turning shared ambitions into concrete partnerships. By bringing together policymakers, businesses and innovators, we want to accelerate investment, strengthen digital infrastructure and grow our respective tech ecosystems. Working together, the European Union and Kenya can deliver practical digital solutions that create opportunities for people and businesses on both sides."

Amongst the opportunities identified at the forum to be explored through the dialogue are investments to expand Kenya's aerial fibre network and to extend the Blue Raman submarine cable to Kenya. The forum also opened the door to partnerships on Artificial Intelligence between European AI factories and Kenyan ecosystem actors, for instance, to deploy AI and data infrastructure or to facilitate exchanges between universities, SMEs, industry and startups. Finally, building on Kenya's ambition to roll out eGovernance solutions and Digital Public Infrastructure to improve service delivery, Kenya and Europe agreed to explore concrete partnerships on high-impact use cases, drawing on European expertise in interoperable public services and secure data governance.

The Digital Dialogue also supports the EU's Global Gateway strategy, which aims to strengthen trusted digital connectivity and investment partnerships between Europe and partner countries, including Kenya.

About the Digital Dialogues

Digital Dialogues enable a regular exchange on shared priorities in terms of policy exchange and collaboration, infrastructure and ecosystem investments, and other actions on key digital priority topics. At this stage, the European Commission has such ongoing Digital Dialogues with, for example, Brazil and Australia. Since 2021, the European Union and Kenya have a Strategic Dialogue that provides an overall framework for their bilateral partnership. It supports regular high-level engagement and guides cooperation in the various areas it covers. The EU-Kenya Digital Dialogue will be positioned within the Strategic Dialogue to allow for a more comprehensive and coherent approach to digital issues.