Kenya Kwanza government is targeting to launch 5,000 free public Wi-Fi hotspots across the county by December 2023, ICT Cabinet Secretary Edwin Owalo has said.
Owalo said this will promote a digital-driven economy.
“The government will collaborate with Google and local telco providers to commission the hotspots,” he said.
The CS spoke during an interview at Citizen TV on Tuesday night.
Owalo said by the end of 2027, President William Ruto’s administration will have rolled out 25,000 such places.
As of January 10, 2023, the CS revealed that since he took over the ICT docket, he has launched 17 public hotspot centres across.
“ The hotspots are targeting local businesses and underserved communities, but the number would increase significantly by the end of the year,” Owalo said.
“On Wednesday (today), I will launch a free Wi-FI hotspot in Kapsabet and in the afternoon I will launch another in Kericho.”
In Nairobi, 17 hotspots have been set up in City Market and Muthurwa, while others in Nyeri, Bondo and Ahero.
The CS explained that through the digital infrastructure initiative, atleast 1.5 to 2 million jobs can be created.
“One thing we have realised is that we have moved the youth idling near bus stops to close proximity of the free Wi-Fi hotspots. We want to leverage technology for purposes of digital jobs for our youth," Owalo said.
By launching the WiFi programmes, the CS noted that it will help address inequity for marginalised communities that can't meet the high cost of data by creating numerous job opportunities that local youth can capitalise on.
"The purpose is to enable Kenyans to get involved in e-commerce so that we don't have physical movement of individuals to transact," Owalo said.
