Kenya should work with the best artificial intelligence technologies from around the world rather than align itself with either China or the West, ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui has said.
Taking to his X account on Monday, Tanui said Kenya should adopt a balanced approach to the rapidly evolving global AI landscape while developing its own technological capabilities and protecting its strategic interests.
His comments followed a recent engagement with a team from The New York Times to discuss the changing global AI ecosystem, Kenya's emerging role and the growing adoption of Chinese AI technologies across Africa.
Tanui said the global AI industry was becoming increasingly multipolar, with Chinese open-weight models gaining adoption alongside American and other international platforms because of factors including cost, accessibility, performance and the ability to customise and deploy technologies locally.
“For Kenya, our position should not be about choosing East or West. Our priority must be to work with the best technologies from across the world while building Kenya’s own capabilities and safeguarding our strategic autonomy,” Tanui highlighted.
He said Kenya's AI strategy should focus on developing domestic infrastructure, talent and technologies rather than becoming overly dependent on foreign providers.
Among the priorities he outlined was the development of sovereign and affordable AI computing infrastructure, alongside expanded cloud and data-centre capacity to support the country's growing digital economy.
Tanui also called for the development of AI solutions designed around Kenya's languages, datasets, industries and national priorities.
He argued that startups, universities, researchers and innovators should be supported to develop and commercialise AI products, while Kenya maintains an open and competitive technology ecosystem.
“During our conversation, I emphasised Kenya’s priorities: building sovereign, affordable AI compute infrastructure and expanding cloud and data-centre capacity; developing Kenyan AI solutions adapted to our languages, datasets, industries and national priorities; supporting startups, universities, researchers and innovators to develop and commercialise AI solutions; maintaining an open, competitive technology ecosystem that avoids unnecessary vendor or geopolitical lock-in.”
Tanui further highlighted data governance, cybersecurity and responsible AI as key components of Kenya's approach to the technology.
He said protecting national and citizens' data would be essential as AI becomes increasingly integrated into key sectors of the economy.
The government official also identified agriculture, healthcare, education, manufacturing, finance and public services as areas where AI could drive economic transformation.
The PS noted that Kenya's experience with mobile money and digital financial services demonstrated the country's ability to adopt global technologies and develop solutions suited to African needs.
He argued that Kenya's next challenge was to move beyond consuming AI technologies and become a producer of AI-powered products and services.
“Kenya’s strength has always been our ability to adopt global technologies and innovate around them to solve African challenges. We demonstrated this in mobile money and digital financial services. The next phase must go beyond being consumers of AI. We must increasingly become builders, developers and exporters of AI-powered products and services,” ICT PS maintained.
He further elaborated that Kenya could position itself as a bridge between competing technology ecosystems, working with the US, China, Europe and other partners while keeping Kenyan talent, data, businesses and interests at the centre.
Tanui highlighted that the central question for Kenya should not be which country dominates the AI industry, but how the country and the wider continent can use the technology to create and retain economic value.
He concluded that the accelerating global competition presented Kenya with an opportunity to build domestic capacity and participate more meaningfully in the emerging AI economy.