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Doha, November 10, 2026 - Kenya has asked International Telecommunication Union member states to support its bid for a seat on the ITU Council for 2027–2030.
The country is seeking election in Region D, which covers Africa. Kenya made the request during its policy statement at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Doha, Qatar.
The conference runs from November 9 to 27, 2026. Kenya is positioning itself as a leading voice in Africa’s digital future. It wants a bigger role in decisions on telecommunications, artificial intelligence, satellite orbits and radio spectrum.
The country told the conference that it has completed about 60 percent of its target to build 100,000 kilometres of national fibre optic cable. Kenya also reported 88 million mobile subscriptions.
The eCitizen platform now offers 24,000 government services, up from 500 in 2022.
These figures were used to show that Kenya is not only consuming digital technology, but also building the infrastructure behind it.
Kenya also said it established the National Cybersecurity Agency this year. The agency is meant to protect critical ICT infrastructure and coordinate the country’s response to cyber threats.
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Its board was inaugurated in early November. Kenya asked the ITU to support African priorities on artificial intelligence.
It called for regional sovereign data centres, AI language models for African languages and data-governance rules that serve African interests.
The country also asked for equitable access to satellite orbits and spectrum. It further urged the harmonisation of spectrum across Africa.
These issues will shape who can build digital services, control data and compete in the AI economy. Kenya’s message was clear, Africa needs a stronger voice in global telecoms governance. The immediate test is whether Kenya wins the ITU Council seat.
The longer test is whether its digital promises translate into affordable connectivity, secure systems and African-owned technology.