Ruto promises Ksh5,000 phone by next year
The State is working with local telcos to produce a locally-made affordable smartphone in the next 12 months to get more Kenyans into the digital superhighway.
The smartphone, which will cost less than Sh5,000, is part of government-led efforts to leverage technology to create employment and improve efficiency in the country.
KNCCI small traders forum
President William Ruto said yesterday during a micro, small and medium enterprises roundtable organised by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), that the government will work with local telcos to produce the smartphone.
“Today the cheapest smartphone is Sh10,000 may be Sh15,000. We want to see whether we can get to $30 (Sh3,600) or $40 (Sh4,800). I want to promise the country that in the next eight to 12 months we will have the cheapest smartphone in Africa, manufactured in Kenya,” he said.
Ruto said the government is working towards having the entire country connected via a digital superhighway terming the smartphone as the last mile in technology.
Spreading technology, the President said, would make employment readily available across the country, adding that the idea behind a digital superhighway is to make it cost-effective to trade and work in the digital space.
Mobile penetration
President William Ruto who had attended the Annual General Meeting for Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry also urged financial institutions to be flexible on how they lend money to micro, small and medium enterprises.
A recent report by Airtel Africa shows that Kenya’s unique mobile penetration stands at 61 per cent, (33.5 million subscribers), and is the highest in the region.
Unique mobile penetration refers to the number of mobile phone owners as a percentage of the total population and does not take into account multiple SIM card ownership.
An earlier report by the Communications Authority (CA), which counts multiple SIM cards, placed Kenya’s mobile uptake beyond 100 per cent.
The CA data shows that the penetration levels of feature phones and smartphones stood at 67.9 per cent and 54.5 per cent respectively as of December 2021.
Most services to migrate online
At the same time, the President has announced that 90 per cent of government services will be available via digital platforms in the next six to 12 months.
The announcement is a follow-up to a promise by the Kenya Kwanza coalition to avail 80 per cent of government services available to the public digitally.
“Let me announce here that we are working on it. Between six and 12 months, we will have moved 90 per cent of all government services onto the digital platform and ensure that from the comfort of your home you can work with the government. You can get govt services online without having to travel,” Ruto said.
At the moment, only 15 per cent of government services are available online, according to the President. He said the government also intends to use digital platforms to improve tax collection.
This financial year (2022/2023) the National Treasury projects to collect Sh2.462 trillion in revenue up from Sh2.031 trillion collected last financial year. Of this amount, Sh2.1 trillion will come from ordinary revenue while Sh321 billion will come from Appropriations in Aid (AIA).
