This archive report was first published on 16 October 2019.
Kenya's economy has undergone significant changes since the early 2000s, with digitisation playing a key role in driving growth and creating jobs.
According to Resolution Insurance CEO, Peter Nduati, digitisation is at an acceleration point, with new services, products, and technologies emerging.
He notes that higher productivity is the most important explanation of long-term prosperity, leading to higher incomes and increased consumption.
However, Nduati cautions that new technologies require many factors to have a full impact, citing e-commerce as an example that has taken time to develop.
Today, e-commerce accounts for only about five percent of all trade, but digitisation has transformed the way people trade, with logistics improved through barcode systems and price comparison sites contributing to better competition.
Nduati emphasizes the importance of laws and restrictions not challenging developments, as digitisation has to be widely diffused within the economic and social fabric of a nation.
He highlights several conditions that must be met for digitisation to achieve a significant impact, including affordability, ubiquity, accessibility, reliability, and sufficient capacity.
Digitisation has touched every part of the economy in Kenya, with the introduction of e-citizen, online filing of taxes, digital employment, and mobile banking technologies.
Nduati concludes that digitisation has proven to benefit the country in many ways, including reducing unemployment, improving quality of life, and boosting citizens' access to public services.
He notes that digitisation has fundamentally reshaped business models, lowered barriers to entry and expansion, and made advertising easy and measurable.
As Kenya continues to develop and grow, the question remains how digitisation will change the way we produce goods and services, consume, and live by 2050.
