President William Ruto when he addressed the Kenya diaspora in Qatar on November 4, 2025/PCSPresident William Ruto has revealed that Kenya’s ambitious plan to host world-class data centres powered by renewable energy has stalled due to the country’s limited electricity generation capacity.
Ruto said Kenya had already signed landmark agreements with global tech giants, including Microsoft and UAE-based artificial intelligence firm G42, to build mega data centres in the country.
However, the projects hit an immediate reality check.
“When I went on a trip to the United States, we signed an agreement between G42 of UAE, Microsoft of America and Kenya to establish data centres,” Ruto said.
The President made the revelation during an address to the Kenyan diaspora in Qatar.
“Tulikuja na kimbelembele yetu tukaanza kazi kuuliza tukaambiwa one data centre requires 1,000 megawatts. Yet, as a whole country, we only have 2,300 megawatts,” he said amid laughter.
The President joked that to power a single hyperscale facility, Kenya would “have to shut down the whole country,” underscoring the scale of the challenge.
The Head of State, however, emphasised the need for the country to urgently expand its energy base if it hopes to industrialise and take advantage of the AI revolution.
“We need a minimum of 10,000 megawatts and we need it like yesterday,” he said.
“Between 5pm and 10pm, we have to do load-shedding because our energy haitoshi. If we want to industrialise and manufacture, we must invest in power generation.”
He cited Ethiopia’s 5,400MW mega-dam commissioned last month, two-and-a-half times Kenya’s current capacity, as evidence of the gap Nairobi must bridge.
“We have a problem and we need to sort it out. We need about Sh1.2 trillion to do it, and we will find the money,” Ruto said, warning that countries that lag in the global technology race risk permanent economic stagnation.
“AI is a huge consumer of energy. If we are left behind, tutakwama milele.”
On March 6, 2024, Ruto witnessed the signing of a pact between Kenya’s EcoCloud and UAE’s G42 to build a 1GW (1,000MW) geothermal-powered data centre, billed as the first of its kind globally.
A similar arrangement with Microsoft and G42, estimated at $1 billion, includes building an Azure cloud region for East Africa, developing local-language AI capabilities, an innovation lab, digital-skills training and enhanced connectivity infrastructure.
Under the agreement, the data centre campus would run mainly on geothermal energy and become operational within 24 months of final approvals.
The President further faulted political leadership for the slow pace of infrastructure growth.
“Kenya can be a great nation, but we are not moving, not because of the people, but because of leaders,” he said.
“We must think beyond the ordinary and take this country to the next level.”
Ruto maintained that the government remains committed to delivering the energy and digital backbone required to make Kenya a global technology hub.
“We cannot afford to be left behind this time,” he said. “We have a country to mind about.”
