President William Ruto attends the 97th Kenya Music Festival in Nyeri on August 16, 2025/PCSPresident William Ruto has announced that during his upcoming visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September, he will engage top global technology leaders to enhance opportunities for Kenyan creators.
Among his key initiatives, he intends to urge Google to allow Kenyans to purchase adverts via M-PESA, a move he said is aimed at boosting digital commerce, supporting creators, and empowering MSMEs.
At present, purchasing ads on platforms such as YouTube and Google requires credit or debit cards — a system that excludes many creators and small businesses without access to them.
Speaking at the State Concert of the 97th Kenya Music Festival in Nyeri on Saturday, Ruto highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to expand the digital economy and make it more inclusive.
"I will ask Google to enable Kenyans to purchase adverts via M-PESA - a change that will benefit both creatives and MSMEs selling their products online, creating a win-win situation for Kenya and for YouTube, which will enjoy more transactions on its platform," he said.
Additionally, he pointed out that he would pursue other collaborations for the benefit of creators during the UN meeting.
This includes integrating M-PESA into Facebook’s payment system to make payouts faster, easier, and more accessible.
Ruto further noted that when he was elected in August 2022, only four African countries had monetisation opportunities on Facebook, and Kenya was not among them.
After persistent negotiations with Facebook’s top leadership, he said, Kenya was included in the select group of countries whose creators could earn revenue from original content.
“We fought hard and we won. And we are not stopping,” Ruto said, emphasising the government’s commitment to supporting creators across all platforms.
The president stressed that the next logical step is to make advertising simpler and more accessible.
He explained that allowing payments through M-PESA would streamline transactions for small and medium enterprises and individual creators, many of whom face barriers in paying for digital promotion.
He has directed all ministries, departments, and agencies to prioritise advertising on digital platforms, arguing that higher online engagement translates into more revenue for content creators.
“The more we advertise online, the higher our content is weighted, and the more our creatives will earn. We have no excuse not to advertise online," he said.
The 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) will open on September 9, 2025.
