The World Bank has boosted Kenya’s ICT sector by giving the country’s Transparency and Communications Infrastructure Project $55.1 million in second round funding.
The Transparency and Communications Infrastructure Project aims to triple the number of fixed telephone lines from 7.5 million to 23 million in three years.
It also hopes to establish at least one digital village or e-centre in each constituency and ensure that every school has access to ICT.
“The additional finance will enable Kenya to consolidate the initiatives it has made in the ICT sector, including the open data initiative,” said Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Kenya.
“Information technology has on average contributed one percentage point to Kenya’s growth since 2000, and opened a path for achieving remarkable improvements in transparency and also in governance.”
The original funding in 2007 was used to boost Kenya’s technological infrastructure and open rural ICT sectors.
The second round of funding will be devoted solely to ensuring the continuing progress of e-government and online accountability projects.
Existing platforms will be expanded in the hope of increasing opportunities for economic growth, in line with the government’s Vision 2030.
“With Sh2.98 billion we want to roll out Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) to all the counties and expand e-Government, the open data initiative which will be given Sh549 million and operational costs of Sh169 million,” said Kenya’s finance minister Njeru Githae.
The government is seeking to take advantage of this technological advancement for reasons of good governance and transparency, with the new constitution promising greater openness.
“Since it was approved in 2007, the KCTIP project has contributed to the sector through activities in connectivity, content development, and selected e-Government applications,” said Isabel Neto, the task team Leader.
“It will continue to support selected areas to further increase transparency and accountability.”
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