Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy has opened its draft national AI policy to public comment, giving citizens, businesses, and civil society groups until August 4, 2026, to weigh in on how the country will govern the technology.
The document, titled the Kenya Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies Policy, sets out a national framework covering the governance, development, deployment, and use of AI across every sector of the economy. It also reaches beyond AI to cover other fast moving technologies such as blockchain, robotics, extended reality, and quantum computing, provided they meet at least two of four tests: rapid evolution, potential to combine with other technologies, gaps in existing law, or unresolved risks around ethics, safety, or rights.
You can send feedback to aipolicy@moict.go.ke, with a copy to legal@moict.go.ke, before the deadline closes.
“Artificial Intelligence will shape the next era of economic growth, public service delivery, and global competitiveness,” said Eng. John Kipchumba Tanui, Principal Secretary of the State Department for ICT and the Digital Economy. “The question is not whether Kenya should embrace AI. It is how we govern it responsibly while unlocking its full potential.”
Why Kenya Is Doing This Now
The ministry frames the policy as an economic opportunity as much as a regulatory exercise. Globally, AI could add between 14 and 16 percent to world GDP by 2030, and Africa alone stands to gain between 1.2 trillion and 1.5 trillion dollars in additional economic value from adopting it, according to estimates cited in the draft from PwC and the OECD.
Kenya already ranks among Africa’s leading technology hubs, and AI is spreading fast across agriculture, health, education, financial services, manufacturing, and government service delivery. But the ministry says that growth has outpaced governance. The draft points to fragmented data systems, patchy access to affordable computing power, skills shortages, and growing reliance on foreign controlled systems as gaps the policy must close.
The document builds on Kenya’s existing digital rulebook, including the Data Protection Act of 2019, the Kenya Information and Communications Act, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018, and the National AI Strategy for 2025 to 2030. Rather than replace these, it aims to knit them into one coherent approach.
Nine Pillars Anchor The Framework
The policy organizes its priorities around nine themes:
- Research, innovation, and commercialization
- Sector by sector applications of AI
- Capacity and human capital development
- Environmental sustainability and green intelligence
- Governance, legal, and regulatory frameworks
- Data ecosystem management
- Ethics, safety, security, and inclusion
- Infrastructure and digital readiness
- Sovereignty and strategic autonomy
Taken together, the ministry says these pillars should move Kenya from scattered pilot projects toward coordinated national capability, and from simply consuming technology to producing and profiting from it.
Who Will Run It
Implementation will follow what the ministry calls a hybrid model. A new AI and Other Emerging Technologies Council will set strategic direction, backed by an office responsible for day to day coordination, technical support, and tracking results. From there, the work spreads outward: ministries, counties, regulators, universities, private companies, civil society groups, and development partners each carry out the policy within their own mandates.
The draft also proposes legal reforms, new funding mechanisms, and a monitoring and evaluation system meant to keep the policy adaptive as the technology itself keeps changing.
Rules Apply Differently Depending On Risk
The policy leans on what it calls a risk based, lifecycle approach. Systems already running when the policy takes effect get a two year grace period to complete a retrospective risk assessment, extending to three years for high risk legacy systems. New systems must comply once supporting regulations come into force. Ordinary consumer use of AI tools for personal, non-commercial purposes falls outside the policy’s reach altogether, as does research conducted in controlled settings that never touches the public.
The scope stretches beyond Kenya’s borders too. Any foreign company whose AI systems are used within Kenya, or whose outputs affect Kenyans, falls under the policy, alongside cloud providers, model developers, and data annotation firms that serve the Kenyan market.
Make Your Voice Count
Public comment periods like this one shape the final version of a policy that will touch nearly every industry in Kenya, from farming and banking to health care and public administration. Tanui has cast the exercise as an invitation to a broad cross section of the country. “This is an opportunity for innovators, researchers, academia, industry, startups, the private sector, civil society, government institutions, development partners, investors, professional bodies, the technical community, and every interested Kenyan to contribute to a forward looking policy framework,” he said.
“Strong national AI governance is built through inclusive dialogue,” Tanui added. “The quality of today’s contributions will determine how effectively we foster innovation, protect rights, build digital trust, strengthen our talent ecosystem, and position Kenya as a regional leader in the AI economy.”
Anyone with a stake in how AI develops in the country now has a direct channel to influence it. Send written comments to aipolicy@moict.go.ke, copying legal@moict.go.ke, before the window closes on August 4, 2026.
