Cloud solutions touted as key accelerators in Kenya’s data and AI ecosystem

Kenya has positioned itself as a hub for innovation, even dubbed the Silicon Savannah, and was ranked 6th in Africa according to the 2023 Oxford Insights AI Readiness Index. 

Further, in its Readiness Assessment Methodology on AI, UNESCO found that the private sector in Kenya leads in AI innovations, which have been applied across industries. 

To meet these growing needs, innovators are adopting a full-stack approach to AI, ensuring integration of multiple technologies required to develop, deploy, and scale AI solutions. 

The Kenya AI Strategy 2025 highlights the growth in cloud services adoption in Kenya, with multiple players in the private sector offering scalable and flexible cloud solutions. These services enable the efficient deployment of digital solutions while leveraging cloud-based infrastructure. 

The media, among other industries, has also adopted Cloud solutions to meet the rising needs of audiences in the digital media ecosystem. 

To meet the demand in this market, Royal Media Services (RMS) Managing Director Mr. Wachira Waruru says optimising the digital experience is crucial in ensuring reliability and speed in delivering media content. 

“We found a solution through upgrading traditional databases with cloud native databases, and as a result, performance improved. Relatively improving the performance experience of our consumers,” Mr. Waruru told delegates during the Huawei Cloud Summit held on Friday. 

In anticipation of future technological trends in the media industry, Mr. Waruru notes that embracing AI and Data solutions will create a dynamic media sector. This is by utilising cloud technologies to build centralised data ecosystems to develop innovative news services through the use of data insights. 

At the summit, Ms. Jacqueline Shi, the President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, noted that with the adoption of cloud and AI solutions, Kenyan companies, including startups, stand an equal chance with other pacesetters in the intelligence era. 

“The performance of the database becomes an important factor. No need to wait, everyone can embrace new AI technologies. We just need to learn. There is no difference between Kenya or Africa, with other regions,” said Ms. Shi. 

However, the Cloud executive noted a talent gap needed to spur technological innovations. Ms. Shi believes that with the right talent locally, Kenya will be at the forefront in developing AI solutions for use across industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and financial services, among others. 

While calling for collaboration between the government and the private sector, Ms. Shi noted that Kenya is advantaged due to its youthful population.

“We just need good practices to build AI and Cloud ecosystems everywhere. Kenya needs more support from the government to provide incentives to the young generation so that they can learn and adapt to new technologies,” Ms. Shi told journalists in a media roundtable held during the summit. 

In addition, Ms. Shi expressed the need for the private sector to provide an environment that encourages this growth, especially through powering local startups. 

“We will release programmes to support Startups and provide dedicated packages for them. We will do our best to encourage them and provide an environment for them to get markets globally. So that they can connect with the global ecosystem.” 

“We will collaborate to invent more courses in fields such as cloud, data and AI. This way, they can learn about new innovative technologies,” she added. 

On the other hand, Mr. Rex Lei, the President of Huawei Cloud Southern Africa, urged industry leaders to support startups through bridging market access and incentivising services like Cloud. 

“Cloud and AI are a good way to support startups which might be having a shortage of funds,” noted Mr. Lei. 

He argued that industry leaders could support startups by linking them to mature companies for the exchange of ideas and incubation. 

In Konza Technopolis, Machakos County, Cloud has been used to support the government in digital transformation. 

Konza Technopolis CEO Mr. John Paul Okwiri said that through the Jitume programme, the City has data centres ready to support digital transformation in Kenya. 

"Konza Technopolis is powering Kenya’s digital transformation by enabling secure, scalable government cloud services and supporting AI development through our future-ready national data center. We’re equipping young people with the skills they need for the digital economy, connecting them to jobs, and working closely with innovators and partners to build a thriving ecosystem that positions Kenya for long-term success in the digital age," said Okwiri.

At the summit, the tech giant unveiled its Huawei Cloud Stack 8.5, a hybrid cloud solution that can be used to manage physically distributed, logically unified resources. The Cloud Stack also offers over 120 cloud services for custom AI and ready-to-deploy solutions.