Kenyan-German policy exchange: Developing an AI strategy

In April 2024, MICDE formally commenced the development of Kenya’s national AI strategy. The process – foreseen to take several months – is highly complex as many stakeholders from government, academia, business and civil society need to be involved. Therefore, the Kenyan government is working with a range of partners to benefit from international learnings and expertise.

As part of the Kenyan-German Digital Dialogue, BMDV provided the Kenyan ministry with first-hand insight into Germany’s AI strategy development process. Germany drafted its national AI strategy in 2018 and revised it in 2020. Theresa Kösters, Policy Officer for Principles of AI and Data Economy at BMDV, laid out the key pillars of the AI strategy and some of its major success: the growth in AI professorships, the increase in AI talent and the establishment of Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation.

The framework conditions have changed

The following open exchange highlighted the different circumstances of AI today – especially since the rise of large language models – that require new and different approaches. Hence, topics like an increased need for infrastructure to provide for AI’s vast computational needs have become more central in developing governmental strategies.

In an extensive round of questions and answers, the Kenyan ministry learned about the vast range of topics covered in Germany’s AI strategy, that contains projects worth over Euro 3.5 billion. Equipped with this input, Kenya’s AI policy experts now continue their work and engagement in the national ecosystem to draft their own AI strategy that suits the Kenyan context and the new age of AI.