List of all articles filed under “kenya-ict” category.
In this section of the interview, Farouk Ramji, CEO of Mawingu, explains the company’s shift from venture capital to seeking long-term infrastructure investors who understand …
In this section of the interview, John Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, introduces the vision behind Kenya’s flagship smart city and its central role …
In this exclusive interview with John Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, Kenya’s ambitious smart city project, we explore the transformative role Konza is playing in advancing Kenya’s digital economy and achieving Vision 2030. Dubbed the African Silicon Savannah, Konza is positioned as a leading innovation ecosystem and Special Economic Zone, designed to attract global investors in ICT-enabled services, life sciences, engineering, and digital infrastructure.
Konza has successfully completed Phase One infrastructure, including clean water systems, high-speed internet, energy distribution, stormwater drainage, and the establishment of a Tier III Uptime Certified National Data Center. With more than 100 out of 147 land parcels allocated, the city now offers a plug-and-play environment for investors looking to enter the African tech investment space.
Key anchors such as the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are in place, supporting research and development (R&D) in STEM fields and strengthening ties between academia, industry, and government. Additionally, Konza’s model includes zones for light industry, device assembly, textiles, and biopharma, with future phases set to include Digital Media City and expanded public-private partnerships (PPP).
CEO John Paul Okwiri addresses common misconceptions about delays, reaffirming that Konza Technopolis is ready for investment and progressing on par with global smart cities like Cyberjaya in Malaysia. The government-backed initiative offers a range of physical and non-physical investment incentives, including tax reliefs, making it an attractive destination for those interested in tech hubs in Africa, smart city development, and long-term infrastructure projects in Kenya.
Konza is not just a project—it’s the foundation of Kenya’s Fourth Industrial Revolution, poised to create over 17,000 jobs, drive sustainable urban development, and serve as a model for digital transformation in Africa.
Typotech Kenya Limited, formerly known as Imaging Solutions, has repositioned itself as a complete printing and packaging solutions provider in East Africa. Under the leadership of CEO Alfred Kandarah, the company has expanded beyond its original focus on pre-press solutions to offer end-to-end services including pre-press, press, and finishing equipment, along with workflow software, consumables, and training.
Now serving key sectors such as newspaper printing, commercial printing, book printing, and most importantly, packaging printing (including paper, board, metal, and textile packaging), Typotech aims to become the first point of contact for high-end printing and packaging solutions in Eastern Africa. The company is particularly targeting the fast-growing packaging industry in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, and plans to expand across the East African Community and later into Central and West Africa.
Kandarah highlights that the commercial printing industry in Africa is slowing, while packaging printing solutions — including metal packaging, corrugated packaging, and textile printing — continue to see sustained growth. This shift is driven by increased demand for labeling and product packaging across sectors, from home-based manufacturers to multinational FMCG brands.
Typotech also places a strong emphasis on sustainability in printing and packaging, ensuring all imported printing consumables meet environmental standards, especially for food-grade packaging. They supply eco-friendly inks, non-toxic print chemicals, and sustainable substrates tailored to local market regulations.
With ambitions to dominate the East African packaging market, Typotech partners with globally recognized equipment manufacturers to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. From computer-to-plate systems, digital workflow automation, to press and finishing machinery, the company supports the region’s shift toward modern, scalable, and sustainable packaging solutions.
In this interview, Snehar Shah, CEO of iXAfrica, shares his vision for revolutionizing the digital landscape in East Africa by establishing Kenya as a pivotal data center hub. Shah discusses the strategic choice of Kenya for its abundant renewable energy, growing tech ecosystem, and robust connectivity, while outlining iXAfrica’s ambitious plans to support the region’s digital transformation and meet the rising demand for AI-ready infrastructure.
In this exclusive interview, Farouk Ramji, CEO of Mawingu, a leading internet service provider in Kenya, outlines the company’s strategic growth across East Africa, with a strong focus on affordable internet in rural Kenya and Tanzania. Over the past four years, Mawingu has built a financially viable and scalable ISP business model—anchored in strong gross margins, profitability, and operational discipline—making it one of the most promising ISPs in Kenya and Africa connectivity pioneers.
The company’s journey from a venture capital-backed startup to a multi-country operator has been marked by an ambitious shift towards attracting long-term infrastructure investors and private equity in Africa. Ramji discusses Mawingu’s acquisition in Tanzania, its disciplined M&A strategy, and how the brand offers a unique blend of profit and purpose in the African digital infrastructure investment space.
The vision is bold: to connect one million Africans by 2028, using sustainable and smart investment strategies tailored for markets like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi. Instead of spreading thin, Mawingu aims to solidify operations in two or three key countries and replicate success through franchise models or an “ISP-in-a-box” approach—enabling accelerated pan-African expansion.
A core part of Mawingu’s impact strategy includes community-based internet connectivity. Ramji highlights the company’s 24/7 network operations center, in-house technical teams, and localized customer support, including Somali-speaking agents to serve marginalized regions such as Mandera. The company’s non-profit arm, Mawingu Foundation, supports schools and community hubs with subsidized internet—building a bridge between digital inclusion and economic empowerment.
Ramji also emphasizes how increasing internet penetration in Africa—particularly in underserved communities—can directly boost GDP, citing World Bank statistics that link a 10% rise in connectivity to a 1.38% increase in GDP. By maintaining this focus, Mawingu not only builds a business but also delivers measurable socioeconomic returns.
Looking ahead, Mawingu plans to grow fivefold in the next three years, increasing subscriber numbers, revenue, and regional reach. The interview concludes with a strong message to global investors: despite past hesitations, the African internet market presents massive untapped potential. With only 1 million of 12 million Kenyan homes connected and just 300,000 out of 14 million Tanzanian homes online, the size of the opportunity is enormous.
In this section of the interview, Mr. Snehar Shah, CEO of IXAfrica, provides an in-depth look at the company’s strategic growth and its flagship facility, …
In this exclusive interview, Mr. Snehar Shah, CEO of IXAfrica, outlines the company’s leadership role as East Africa’s largest AI-ready and hyperscaler-ready data centre, based in Nairobi, Kenya. IXAfrica operates NBOX1, a carrier-neutral facility strategically located near Nairobi’s airport, and is developing NBOX1.2 and NBOX2, which together will expand their data centre capacity to over 75 megawatts.
The NBOX1 facility currently hosts over 20 network providers and two major internet exchanges—the Kenya Internet Exchange and the London Internet Exchange (LINX). With its high-density GPU hosting capabilities, including support for racks requiring up to 50 kilowatts, IXAfrica is the only data centre in Kenya engineered to support AI workloads, positioning itself as a regional digital infrastructure leader.
Through a strategic partnership with Safaricom, East Africa’s leading telecom operator, IXAfrica is jointly targeting enterprise clients and cloud providers. The company is also engaged in advanced discussions with hyperscalers, such as Oracle—which has announced plans to establish a sovereign cloud in Kenya—and Microsoft, which is investing $1 billion into a regional cloud zone in the country.
As a sustainable data centre, IXAfrica leverages Kenya’s 93% renewable energy mix, including geothermal energy from Olkaria. With upcoming power wheeling legislation, the company aims to source green energy directly, enhancing its ESG compliance and lowering operational costs. It is also EcoVadis-certified, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable data infrastructure.
On the talent front, IXAfrica is addressing the data centre skills gap in Africa through partnerships with organisations like Nomad Futurists and local initiatives that train university interns in cloud engineering and data centre operations. This initiative aligns with their long-term vision to build a scalable African talent pipeline for the global digital economy.
The company is also at the forefront of AI policy discussions, contributing to regulatory frameworks on data sovereignty, digital policy, and AI governance in collaboration with the Kenyan government and the United Nations AI board.
Looking ahead, IXAfrica plans to scale its infrastructure, onboard AI companies, expand its cloud services, and strengthen its position as the go-to data centre in East and Central Africa. With backing from Helios Investment Partners, IXAfrica is not only investing in Kenya but also exploring broader expansion in Tier 1 African markets, including Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco.
Snehar Shah, CEO of iXAfrica, shares how he led the company to become East Africa’s largest data center provider in just nine months. He highlights …
Snehar Shah shares his assessment of the IT sector in Kenya and presents Moringa School, a multi-disciplinary learning accelerator committed to closing the skills gap in Africa’s job markets by delivering transformative tech-based learning to high-potential jobseekers; and on graduation connecting them to local and international employers who desire high-quality tech talent.
