UAE, Kenya boost digital infrastructure cooperation

The UAE and Kenya are expanding cooperation in digitalisation and technology.

The two sides have signed an MoU to explore investments in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) services in Kenya, including developing data centre projects with a total capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts.

In the field of AI, the technical and investment potential of developing Large Language Models will be assessed.

The Investment Memorandum was signed by Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, UAE Minister of Investment and Eliud Owalo, Cabinet Secretary at Kenya's Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The agreement focuses on facilitating strong and effective relationships between public and private sector organisations in the two countries to enable cooperation in digital infrastructure projects. It additionally proposes implementing incentives to support major initiatives.

The 'digital corridor' concept is integral to this Memorandum, representing an interconnected network infrastructure enabling secure data exchange, hosting, processing and transmission between the UAE and Kenya.

Kenya has witnessed significant growth in its digital economy, primarily driven by the ICT sector, which has outperformed all other sectors, expanding by 23 per cent annually during the last decade.

As the largest economy in East Africa, Kenya is also becoming a preferred investment destination for data centre providers, with the growing demand for cloud services prompted by improved business conditions and new market entrants and the migration of many businesses to digital solutions.

The Memorandum was signed close on the heels of the UAE and Kenya finalising a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) aimed at deepening investment ties and boosting bilateral non-oil trade, which reached $3.1 billion in 2023, up 26.4 per cent compared to 2022.