Shaping Kenya’s Digital Future: Harmonising Policies for Innovation, Rights, and Secure Digital Governance

On 14 May 2025, CADE partner KICTANet led a roundtable on ‘Shaping Kenya’s Digital Future: Harmonising Policies for Innovation, Rights, and Secure Digital Governance’, during the 18th Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KeIGF), held as part of the Africa Tech Policy Summit (AfTPS) week (12–16 May 2025) in Nairobi, Kenya. The recording is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PmCOIWVQaw

The roundtable brought together stakeholders from civil society, policy institutions, and regional organisations, to discuss how Kenya can leverage multistakeholder approaches and international cooperation to promote innovation while safeguarding digital rights and preventing Internet fragmentation, particularly in light of the WSIS+20 review process. Key discussion areas included:

  • Harmonisation of national digital policies with global internet governance frameworks.
  • The role of multistakeholder engagement in safeguarding rights while promoting innovation.
  • Public participation gaps in Kenya’s digital policymaking processes.
  • Challenges engaging with global digital platforms.
  • The importance of regional collaboration and policy coherence across Africa.
  • Endorsement of the renewal of the IGF mandate.

The roundtable was moderated by Jane Muhia (Oxfam), with panel contributions from Bridget Andere (Access Now), Joseph Kihanya (KICTANet), and Liz Orembo (Research ICT Africa).

The Kenya IGF recorded 300 in-person participants and 73 online participants across plenary and parallel breakout sessions. As this roundtable ran concurrently with another session, it is estimated that approximately half of registered participants attended this session. On this basis, estimated attendance for the roundtable is: ~150 in-person participants and ~35–40 online participants.