By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
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Kenya, October 22, 2026 - Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has challenged African countries to move beyond adopting foreign technology and begin building genuine technological power of their own.
Speaking while opening the Africa Technology Leadership Conference 2026, Mudavadi said Africa already has digital strategies, innovation policies, research institutions, technology hubs and a young population ready to create the future. The next and more important task, he said, is to turn that ambition into productive capability, competitive companies, intellectual property, quality jobs, strong institutions and greater global influence.
“Africa must move from adopting technology to building technological power,” he told delegates. “Africa cannot build technology sovereignty on imported knowledge alone.”
He pointed to UNESCO data showing that the world invests far more of its GDP in research and development than Sub-Saharan Africa, and that the global average number of researchers is much higher than Africa’s. These numbers, he said, should not be seen as a verdict against the continent but as a clear call to action. Countries that fail to invest in knowledge eventually pay to import the solutions, standards and intellectual property created by those that do.
Mudavadi cited M-Pesa as proof that Africa can invent solutions the world needs. Launched in Kenya in 2007, it became the first major mobile money platform and turned simple phones into a full financial system for millions who had been locked out of traditional banking. It drove financial inclusion, supported livelihoods and inspired similar systems across the globe.
“M-Pesa is now lonely,” he said. “We need other innovations as well.”
He outlined four pillars needed for strategic advantage. First, science and technology must become tools of diplomacy. Artificial intelligence, data, cybersecurity, biotechnology, space systems and technology standards now sit at the centre of international competition and cooperation.
Diplomacy should open doors not only for goods and services but for researchers, innovators, scientific infrastructure and knowledge partnerships. Nairobi’s position as the only United Nations headquarters duty station in Africa and the Global South, he added, gives the continent a unique platform to shape global technology governance as a core author rather than an afterthought.
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Second, research must be deliberately connected to capital, industry and markets. Too many African innovations stall between discovery and scale. Funding for strategic research, universities that reward commercialisation, industry that invests earlier, development finance institutions willing to take technology risk, and investors who value intellectual property and scientific talent are all required.
Third, execution itself must become a strategic capability. Coverage is not adoption. Digitisation is not transformation. A pilot is not scale. Real progress needs infrastructure, skills, relevant services, capable institutions, regulatory certainty and public trust working together.
Fourth, Africa must build trust, data sovereignty and resilience. Mudavadi rejected the false choice between innovation and good governance. Intelligent regulation that protects people while allowing experimentation, data systems that respect privacy and sovereignty, and cybersecurity built into systems from the start are all necessary.
He challenged the conference to organise its work around five concrete propositions: strengthen Africa’s research base by increasing investment and the number and quality of researchers; create clear pathways from research to market that include intellectual property protection and commercialisation; use diplomacy to expand technological capability through collaboration, technology transfer and standards participation; build continental scale through shared standards, interoperable systems and regional research infrastructure; and measure execution rigorously.
Mudavadi made clear that Kenya is ready to play its part. The country will continue investing in digital infrastructure, research, skills and innovation. It will strengthen the environment for technology enterprises, use its diplomatic platform to deepen scientific and technology partnerships, and work with other African countries to advance a stronger continental voice in global technology governance.
“This is not a Kenya project,” he said. “It is an African imperative.”
When the conference reconvenes, he added, progress should be measured by funded research, commercialised technology, mobilised capital, implemented partnerships and real value created , not by announcements alone.