The Kenyan government’s State Department of ICT and Digital Economy has announced its intention to expand the country’s fiber infrastructure, adding at least 27,000 km of backbone, middle-mile, and cross-border fiber infrastructure. The government will make KSh 13 billion (US$ 100.2 million) available for the project, intended to match investment from the private sector.
The funding was announced by the Principal Secretary of the State Department of ICT and Digital Economy, John Kipchumba Tanui during an engagement session with telecommunications operators, investors, financiers, and development partners. The engagement included a pre-bid session for the Framework Agreement Tender for Extending National Backbone and Cross-Border Links under the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project (KDEAP).
“This investment will close connectivity gaps, strengthen network resilience and make it more affordable for operators to connect homes, businesses and public institutions,” said Tanui. “I appreciated our industry partners for their investment and innovation, which have helped position Kenya as a leading African technology hub.”
According to the Principal Secretary, Kenya’s submarine cables and cross-border fiber links have a combined 28.95 Tbps of internet bandwidth. This supports cloud services, digital trade, business process outsourcing, and innovation.
In 2022, the private sector had approximately 24,000 km of fiber, while the public sector had 12,500 km. Since then, the private sector has added a further 24,000km and the public sector 17,000 km. The areas that have yet to be covered by Kenya’s growing fiber network, but will be under this new initiative, have already been identified, and a Multi-Round Reverse Auction will be used to mobilize private capital and maximize public investment.
“Our ambition is to expand fixed broadband to more than eight million connections, working towards connecting every home that has an electricity connection. This backbone investment will provide the foundation for providers to extend last-mile services and bring reliable, affordable internet closer to every household,” Tanui added.
The Kenyan government has not said when it intends to have this fiber expansion completed by.
Expanding the Kenyan connectivity network is particularly important, especially when framed against the growing data center market. As outlined by Arizton Advisory & Intelligence, the Kenyan data center market is expected to grow from US$ 266 million in 2025 to US$ 805 million by 2031. “Arizton attributes this growth to rising adoption of digital platforms, advanced technologies such as AI, and the expanding digital economy. The firm reports that the country has seven operational subsea cables with two more expected to be operational by 2027.