Kenya is to connect more than 180 national institutions in the coming weeks through an ambitious project utilising electricity power lines to accelerate its fibre optic network rollout.

The southwestern counties (provinces) of Kisii and Nyamira are to initially benefit from the rollout that has seen the government ditch the usual and laborious method of laying fibre on trenches.

Instead, the government is utilising the infrastructure of Kenya Power.

Some 94 institutions in Kissi are to be connected through this last mile connectivity programme.

“The extension of the national fibre optic network will be important in empowering local communities, providing access to quality education, healthcare and government services and creating a conducive environment for businesses to flourish,” said John Kipchumba Kanui, Principal Secretary: State Department for ICT and Digital Economy.

The same project will connect 91 institutions in Nyamira.

“This is set to bring high-speed internet to the region and unlock new possibilities for digital transformation and connectivity,” Tanui assured.

Kenya, East Africa’s second largest economy (after Ethiopia), aims to lay an additional 100 000km of fibre by 2027.

In Nyamira, the government has also launched ICT labs at four tertiary institutions.

The facilities are part of a drive by the under-pressure administration of President William Ruto to create digital jobs in a country beset by high youth unemployment.

“These labs are empowering young people with the digital skills needed to secure jobs and seize new opportunities in the digital economy,” Tanui said.

The East African country of 56 million people has been rocked by weeks of protests over unemployment and high taxation issues.