After convincing ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to open a regional office in Kenya, President William Ruto wants to convince other global tech giants to do the same. 

On Friday, September 15, William Ruto (photo, left) met with the heads of several American multinational technology companies in San Francisco. The aim is to convince these firms to invest in Africa, particularly in his country, Kenya.

"Kenya is your gateway to the Silicon Savannah [Kenya's technology ecosystem created as a local version of the U.S. Silicon Valley], to the East African Community, the most integrated regional market of 500 million, and a Pan-African market of 1.4 billion. If you build it in Kenya, it works for Africa, and if you set it up in Kenya, your African footprint is guaranteed," the Kenyan president said.  

Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria are the countries attracting the most investment in Africa's technology sector. On a continental scale, Kenya is a mature ecosystem, and the executive is doing what's necessary to attract more capital and investors. In August 2023, after a virtual meeting with President Ruto, Chinese giant Bytedance’s executives decided to open offices in the country. 

“Kenya is a full package investment destination; economically stable, entrepreneurial, secure, innovative with a favorable tax environment, skilled labor force, technological expertise, green energy credentials and a gateway for six undersea fiber-optic cables providing reliable data connectivity,” the president told investors in Silicon Valley.

Several executives and/or representatives of the technology firms present at the meeting were won over by the President's speech. Apple Chairman and CEO Tim Cook is reportedly considering the creation of a developer academy and also plans to exploit the potential of the country's green data centers. Google wants to invest several million dollars to strengthen its digital training and innovation initiatives on the continent. As for Visa, the fintech company has already chosen Kenya as the location for its global digital innovation studio.

Adoni Conrad Quenum