This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On June 17, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta, along with other regional leaders, launched the Source 21 Handbook at the State House during the opening of the Source 21 COMESA International Trade Fair and High Level Business Summit at the KICC.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has emphasized the importance of regional digital linkage in combating corruption and illicit cash flow. Speaking in Nairobi, he noted that adopting Kenya's digital strategy would help stem the vice.
“When we digitise, we improve on transparency and accountability and open up the system,” Uhuru told participants of the Presidential Public-Private Roundtable in the ongoing Kenya Trade Week.
The President's call comes as Kenya doubles down on technology to seal revenue loopholes. The country has introduced the NIIMS (National Integrated Identity Management System), popularly known as Huduma Namba, and new excise duty regulations that require manufacturers to automate their production processes.
Philip Muema, a managing partner at Andersen Tax, said the new regulations will enable KRA to monitor transactions manually. The Central Bank of Kenya is also developing digital identification infrastructure to enable financial service providers to identify customers electronically.
President Museveni called for the removal of bottlenecks, including market integration, cost of doing business, poor human resource, and politics of identity, which have hampered Africa's economic growth.
