Kenya Hosts Major AI Everything Gitex Conference To Boost Africa’s Digital Transformation

Kenya is hosting one of Africa’s largest public-private Artificial Intelligence (AI) events, the Ai Everything GITEX Kenya conference, from May 19–21, 2026.

The event brings together governments, enterprises, startups, and investors to explore AI innovation, accelerate digital transformation, and promote investment opportunities across Africa and beyond.

The conference comes at a time when Kenya is increasingly positioning itself as a leading destination for technology investment.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Principal Secretary for the State Department for ICT and the Digital Economy, Eng. John Tanui, thanked the organizers for picking Kenya as a host saying it is a timely conversation as the country and continent at large are emerging as a key destination for investment with the region hosting the talent that will lead the next industrial revolution.

“We have laid the necessary infrastructure as a nation to ensure that Kenya thrives as a leading tech hub in the continent and the world. We have laid 8 sub-sea cables, and through support from the World Bank we have the Horn of Africa Gateway Connectivity project that seeks to connect Kenya with Ethiopia, Djibouti, South-Sudan and Somalia,” said the PS. “We have also digitized government services. As a country, we have over 22,000 Services that are available serving more than 14.5 million e-Citizen account holders,” added the PS.

The PS also stated that in a quest to ensure Kenya has the right policies in place, in March 2025, the Ministry launched the Kenya National AI Strategy 2025-2030 a definitive roadmap to position the country as an AI leader, through ethical governance, data infrastructure, and talent development. He added that the Ministry was now working on the data governance framework, which is a key foundation for AI.

To upscale AI skilling, the PS stated that the Government is working with universities and other institutions of higher learning. “Just last week the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology was awarded with a charter. The institute will be driving our research and is modelled after the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,” said the PS.

The PS concluded by stating that the Government will continue working with many partners to ensure that it builds the next generation of technology startups. “As a ministry, we are going to be proud, we take this as one of the important events in our sector, and you have the support of our ministry and our leadership,” said the PS.

The conference was also graced by Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja, Kenya's Tech Envoy Philip Thigo, ICT Authority CEO Jesse Maruti and GITEX Global CEO, Trixie Loh Mirmand.

The conference has over 15,000 tech executives from over 75 countries which brings together stakeholders in AI, cybersecurity, health-tech, smart cities, and cloud computing, creating opportunities for investment and collaboration.