Kenya has been ranked fifth in Africa for preparedness to adopt artificial intelligence, according to new global rankings released by the World Trade Organization, adding to signs that the country is consolidating its position as one of the continent’s leading digital economies.
The assessment by the World Trade Organization placed Kenya behind Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa and Tunisia, and ranked it 77th worldwide out of 132 countries surveyed. While the WTO did not publish a detailed breakdown of its methodology, such indices typically measure factors including digital infrastructure, skills availability, data governance, regulatory readiness and the ability to integrate AI into economic activity.
The ranking reinforces a series of international evaluations that have increasingly placed Kenya among Africa’s upper tier for emerging technology readiness, even as analysts warn that structural weaknesses continue to limit large-scale deployment of advanced systems.
Kenya’s relatively strong showing reflects years of investment in digital public infrastructure, widespread mobile connectivity and a services-led economy centred on information and communications technology. Nairobi has emerged over the past decade as a regional innovation hub, hosting a growing ecosystem of startups, multinational technology firms and research centres.
The country has also benefited from early adoption of mobile money and e-government platforms, which have created large datasets and familiarised citizens and businesses with digital services an advantage as AI-driven tools become more common.
The WTO ranking broadly aligns with earlier assessments. In 2022, a government AI readiness index compiled by Oxford Insights also ranked Kenya fifth in Africa, behind Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia and Morocco, and placed it 90th globally. Kenya’s improvement in global ranking since then suggests relative progress compared with peers, even if absolute capacity gaps remain.
That earlier index, however, highlighted significant weaknesses in technology skills. Kenya scored below the global average on the availability of specialised talent such as data scientists, machine learning engineers and AI researchers a constraint that policymakers acknowledge has yet to be fully addressed.
The new WTO ranking comes as Kenya begins implementing its first national artificial intelligence strategy, covering the period 2025–2030. The policy outlines priority sectors and foundational reforms intended to guide the responsible adoption of AI across the economy.
Healthcare, education and agriculture have been identified as initial focus areas, reflecting sectors where efficiency gains and better access to information could have broad social impact. In healthcare, proposed applications include maternal health chatbots operating in local languages and AI-driven disease advisory systems aimed at improving access to reliable medical information, particularly in underserved areas.
In education, the strategy highlights intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive learning platforms and multilingual teacher-support tools designed to improve learning outcomes and expand access to quality instruction. In agriculture, a sector that employs a large share of the population, policymakers have pointed to AI-powered fertiliser and crop recommendations, as well as systems that translate complex data into farmer-friendly audio messages in local dialects.
Beyond sector-specific use cases, the strategy is built around three core pillars: modernising digital infrastructure, developing a national data ecosystem and incentivising the creation of local AI models. Officials argue that building domestic capacity will be critical to ensuring that AI adoption supports economic development rather than deepening dependency on foreign technologies.
Despite the optimism, concerns persist over regulation. Kenya does not yet have a dedicated legal framework governing artificial intelligence, even as private-sector adoption accelerates. Civil society groups and technology experts have warned of risks related to data privacy, algorithmic bias and accountability.
The government says existing legislation, including the Data Protection Act and the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, provides an initial governance foundation while more specific AI rules are developed. Authorities insist that regulation must balance innovation with safeguards to avoid stifling a nascent sector.
For now, the WTO ranking underscores Kenya’s growing digital ambitions and the challenge of translating relative readiness into widespread, inclusive and well-governed use of artificial intelligence across one of Africa’s most dynamic economies.
