04 November 2022

Eliud Owalo has been named as Kenya’s new cabinet secretary for ICT pending parliament’s approval.

A new entrant in the ICT space, Owalo has a legal and economic consultancy background. He has been tasked with enforcing the new administration’s ICT agenda, which includes expanding the digital economy and reducing the cost of ICT broadband.

The government plans to extend broadband through the national fibre optic connectivity network by increasing it to 100,000km in the next five years. It also wants to establish Kenya as an Africa Regional Hub and promote the development of software for export.

The government is also looking to establish a Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology Policy to enable a whole of government approach to technological development and use, and to build necessary capacities across government.