Kenya is joining the Digital Cooperation Organization, and the news lands as one of the country’s biggest wins yet in its push to be taken seriously as a digital economy player on the world stage.
The DCO Council gave its approval in Riyadh on August 28, 2026, putting Kenya on a shortlist with Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Zambia, eight countries in total, all now working through the paperwork that will make their membership official.
Once each country completes the required national procedures, signing, adopting, and ratifying the DCO Charter according to its own legal processes, the organization’s membership will grow to 24 states, representing close to 980 million people worldwide.
For Kenya, the approval caps nearly two years of engagement.
Speaking on the development, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, Amb. Philip Thigo, credited the effort to officials working under the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, noting that the DCO Council had now cleared the way for the country’s final formal accession process.
The groundwork included setting up the DCO-Kenya Working Group earlier this year and discussions between DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya and Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo during the Connected Africa Summit in Nairobi.
They discussed how Kenya’s National AI Strategy 2025-2030 could align with DCO programs.
Membership is expected to open new doors for Kenyan startups and innovators, giving them stronger links to global markets and investors through DCO-backed initiatives such as STRIDE and InvestConnect, programs that Thigo pointed to as already having helped participating startups raise more than $21 million (~KES 2.7 billion).
That track record gives Kenya a tangible reference point for what deeper DCO ties could mean for its wider innovation ecosystem, beyond the diplomatic significance of the accession itself.
AlYahya framed the broader expansion as a response to countries wanting a seat at the table while the rules governing data, AI, and cross-border digital trade are still being written, rather than inheriting frameworks shaped without their input.
She described the next phase of the DCO’s growth as one where five years of policy work and partnerships could soon sit behind twenty-four countries, turning alignment into shared infrastructure and investment.
Kenya still has to finish its domestic ratification before membership is locked in. However, for a country that has spent years building out its reputation as one of Africa’s more energetic tech hubs, this is a meaningful step in that journey.
