Kenya has spent the better part of a year building toward the draft Kenya Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies Policy 2026, and the document now sits in public hands.
The State Department for ICT and Digital Economy, under the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Digital Economy, opened it for comment through August 4, giving citizens, researchers, industry, and civil society a narrow but real window to shape how the country will govern the technology.
The work behind the policy began long before this draft. Kenya’s National AI Strategy, launched in March 2025, laid the foundation. Work on the policy itself started in November 2025 and was led by a multi-stakeholder Technical Working Group that brought together experts from academia, government, startups, and civil society.
The process was supported by partners including the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), the British High Commission, the European Union, Germany, and Canada.
That process has now produced a framework built around four governance tiers, topped by a National AI and Other Emerging Technologies Steering Committee and anchored by a new council that will act as the central regulator.
What should Kenyans expect next? Assuming the August deadline holds and feedback is incorporated without major delay, the policy will likely move toward Cabinet consideration and eventual gazettement, alongside the AI Bill already working through Parliament.
Implementation will bring institutions Kenyans have not dealt with before: a Kenya AI Safety Institute for testing and risk classification, a public AI and Emerging Technologies Registry, and Technical Working Groups drafting sector-specific standards.
The proposed National African Languages and Voice Programme also signals a push to build AI systems that work in Kenyan and African languages, not just English.
The bigger ambition is regional. The policy positions Kenya as an anchor for East Africa’s AI infrastructure, with a bilateral recognition framework for cross-border sovereign AI hosting among Partner States.
Whether that positioning holds will depend less on the paperwork and more on how quickly the Council, the Safety Institute and the supporting directorates get funded and staffed once the policy is signed off.
