Sh16 billion for ICT and digital economy
Sh16 billion for ICT and digital economy
President William Ruto will spend Kes16 billion on various ICT initiatives in the fiscal year beginning July 1 with a goal of digitizing at least 5000 public services and using the power of digital platforms to combat joblessness in Kenya. The government claims to have already digitalized 3,750 government services and aims to integrate 5,000 services by December 2023.
President Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration is eager to use ICT to overhaul the economy, from digitizing land registries to creating a digital health network. Prof. Njuguna Ndungu, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, argued in favor of the government's bottom-up economic transformation program that investments in digitalisation and automation have been set aside in the 2023/24 budget to boost productivity and Kenya's competitiveness internationally.
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Increasing revenue collection through automated Value Added Tax (VAT) systems is another goal of the FY2023/24 Budget.
The digital capabilities of state organizations like the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), CBK Central Securities Depository (CSD) digital platform (DhowCSD) for improved investor convenience and experience, and Sacco Societies Regulatory (SASRA) licensing of cost-sharing digital Shared Services platform to support the digitization of smaller SACCOs will also be improved.Some of the highlight allocations in Kenya's ICT industry for the FY2023/24 are:
Budget Allocation ICT investment project Kes5.7 billion Konza Technopolis - Construction of Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Kes4.8 billion Konza Technopolis - Horizontal Infrastructure Phase 1 Kes1.3 billion National Optic Fibre Backbone Phase II Expansion Cable Kes1.2 billion Konza Technopolis - Data Centre and Smart City Facilities Kes755 million Digitisation of Land Registries Kes600 million Government Shared Services Kes583 million Last Mile County Connectivity Network Kes475 million Konza Technopolis - Construction of Konza Complex Phase 1B Kes400 million Digital Literacy Program and ICT Integration in Secondary Schools Kes352 million Digital Health Platform
