Digital economy blueprint

3.5  DIGITAL GOVERNMENT IN KENYA

A digital government framework should holistically 

look at the role of ICTs in driving the national de-

velopment goals. By adopting and implementing this 

Digital Economy Blueprint, African governments can 

generate more revenue; reduce waste; improve Gov-

ernment services and efficiency; increase citizen par-

ticipation in a transparent and trusted environment. 

Kenya’s ICT vision is guided by the Kenya Nation-

al ICT Master Plan that is based on Kenya’s Vision 

2030, which envisages Kenya as an ICT hub and a 

globally competitive digital economy[2]. The Master 

Plan has three pillars namely:

i.  E-Government services, which aims at ensuring 

provision of eGovernment information and ser-

vices as key to improving productivity, efficiency, 

effectiveness and governance in all key sectors;

ii. ICT as a driver of industry, which aims at trans-

forming key Vision 2030 economic sectors to sig-

nificantly  enhance  productivity,  global  competi-

tiveness and growth; and

iii. Developing ICT businesses that can produce and 

or provide exportable quality products and ser-

vices that are comparable to the best in the world.

The Government of Kenya has made great strides 

in providing e-Government services. Currently, the 

Government is registering all citizens inside or out-

side of Kenya and foreigners residing in Kenya will 

soon issue a new digital ID called the “Huduma Nam-

ba” (service number). The Digital ID, which will be 

a first of its kind on the continent, involves biometric 

registration (digital fingerprints and photo) of all per-

sons in the country.

Kenya’s flagship Government to Citizen (G2C) plat-

form is the e-Citizen (https://www.e-Citizen.go.ke/). 

E-citizen is a Kenya G2C portal that provides services 

including business name search and registration, no-

tice of marriage, registration of marriage, driving 

licenses, land searches and clearances, passport and 

visa applications. The system allows citizens to sign 

up, apply for government services and conveniently 

pay using mobile money, credit cards, debit cards 

and online banking. The system also allows foreign 

residents to apply for services. Users receive email 

and SMS notification every time their application has 

progressed.

In  addition  to  e-citizen,  Kenya  has  adopted  a  one-

stop-shop model (or Huduma Centre). A Huduma 

Centre is a one stop shop for various government 

services.  Huduma Centres are mandated to deliver 

governmental services from “a single location and are 

amplified by online e-Huduma: e-citizen. As indicated 

above e-citizen provides integrated services offered 

by various government ministries, departments and 

agencies and a unified and integrated channel Hudu-

ma payment gateway to facilitate ease of payment for 

government services”.

This Blueprint proposes that a digital government is 

a prerequisite for a digital economy. To enhance the 

security of the digitised system, there is also a critical 

need to authenticate people and/ or businesses through 

a digital ID. Digital IDs will enable trust and will pro-

mote other aspects of the digital economy such as dig-

ital business including digital financial services. 

[1]

 A European Union study estimated that e-govern-

ment (online systems) could reduce costs by 15-20% 

while e-procurement systems could save over $100B 

per year across the EU

[2] The Kenya national long-term development blue-

print, Vision 2030 (http://www.vision2030.go.ke/) 

aims to transform Kenya into a globally competitive 

and prosperous nation providing a high quality of life 

to its citizens.