- Under Kwoh-ting's stewardship, Taiwan is said to have changed from a poor agrarian society into an export-driven manufacturing one.
- Regarded as a godfather of technology, Kwoh-ting policies, then, steered Taiwan toward high-technology ventures and production
Image: PCS
In the digital economy, President William Ruto stands a big chance to be Li Kwoh-ting of Kenya.
Though served as a senior presidential adviser and a minister of economics and finance, Kwoh-ting is regarded as the driving force behind Taiwan's transformation into an economic powerhouse.
Taiwan’s rapid economic transformation was entrepreneurial and technology-driven, together with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea, the Four Asian Tigers.
Under Kwoh-ting's stewardship, Taiwan is said to have changed from a poor agrarian society into an export-driven manufacturing one.
Regarded as a godfather of technology, Kwoh-ting policies, then, steered Taiwan toward high-technology ventures and production.
His insistence on the training of specialists at schools and universities also helped catapult Taiwan into third place among the world's producers in those fields.
Before the early 1990s, the Tigers’ real GDP growth often surpassed 10 per cent.
There is no doubt that the digital economy is at the heart of President William Ruto's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
With the shrinking job opportunities each passing day, it is becoming evident that the available job opportunities within the country cannot be relied on to salvage millions of youths out of the unemployment crisis.
As the rest of the world grapples with a shortage of talent due to its ageing population, Africa is experiencing the opposite.
20 per cent of Kenya’s population is aged between 15-24. Soon, Africa will have the world’s largest working-age population.
Among many other factors, this has inspired the Ruto adminstration to train its guns on the digital economy.
It was not by coincidence that the “finya kompuyta itoe dollar” phrase was coined.
The evolving technology is making it mandatory for youths to develop essential digital skills that will enable them to work and serve the world from the remotest of Kenyan villages such as Taptengelei.
Since companies around the world are increasingly turning to Africa as a source of talent, technology is breaking barriers that would hinder anyone, a decade ago, from selling his service to a company worldwide.
Top talents no longer need to leave the country in search of pasture as they can offer their expertise from the comfort of their remote village, thanks to technology.
The move by the Ruto adminstration to open digital hubs across various constituencies in the country is a classic display of a leadership that is privy to the importance of the digital economy.
While the government may not have the resources it wishes to have to roll out development in all sectors, a focus on institutional and regulatory mechanisms is key to ensuring the digital economy is leveraged.
The Kenyan government should not shoulder the whole responsibility of spurring technological advancement in the country.
Establishing a friendly environment for the private sector to invest in the digital economy is key to making Kenya a technological powerhouse.
In Africa, Kenya led the Big Four startup ecosystems, which include South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt, in the highest funding secured in 2023.
This signalled a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.
This is a catalyst and a leading indicator of growth. Kenya also remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the world at 5%.
Just like Li Kwoh-ting, Ruto must rise to the occasion and steer Kenya from an agrarian system into an entrepreneurial and technology-driven economy.
A 10-year digital growth roadmap that President Ruto launched in November 2023 is a step in the right direction.
The plan will help the public and private sectors tap, into emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, and data analytics, which are crucial for modernizing the economy.
But, it may not be possible to change Kenya by only focusing on digital economic growth.
By emulating the high-tech industrial revolution, today Taiwan produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced ones.
They are the chips that power everything from mobile phones to electric cars.
For Kenya to start developing high-quality, high-value-added products innovation, research and development need to be prioritized.
Kenya must be willing to pay the price in research and development to get that right.
Nelson Amenya is an MBA (Master of Business Administration) student at HEC Paris Business School in France.