Financial decisions makers meet in Nairobi during the seamless East Africa 2025 event

BERNADETTE KHADULI-KNA

The Government is rolling out new cybersecurity policies and regulations to combat cybercrimes and emerging digital threats.

Speaking at the Seamless East Africa 2025, the Secretary ICT and E-Government-In-Charge of Systems in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Ms. Mary Kerema, said the government is developing an opensource platform to support young people to pursue their innovations.

She said the government is also drafting policies that address emerging technologies including blockchain, for which a regulatory Bill is currently under consideration in Parliament.

“If we use blockchain, we will be able to identify owners of unclaimed assets. The government has collaborated with the World Bank to automate government services to improve service delivery,” Mary Kerema said.

Speaking on the panel ‘The Transformative Power of New Open Payment Integrations for Consumers and Companies in Africa,’ Ms. Kerema said that East African Community countries are holding discussions to jointly develop seamless payment systems for online goods, visa processing, and other cross-border services.

Africa and East Africa are having conversations to build solutions for the region and its citizens. The aim is to liberate the region from importing solutions, by creating its own solutions that are Africa driven and domesticating them.

“We need to build our own system, have a common currency, and cybersecurity policies that can cut across Africa. If we work together as Africa, we are stronger,” she said.

She said open-source intelligence will help the continent to grow and build its own indigenous model and objects.

The Secretary said the government has developed a program to educate and guide members of the public on internet usage.

It has trained trainers to train the youth and empower them to use technologies to monitor and package their data to earn income that can enable them to put food on the table.

“The government wants citizens to be part of the solution from incubation to development so they can understand the technologies they use and apply them responsibly. This will be done through stakeholders’ engagements,” she said.

Kerema urged the youths to visit the digital Ajira, Jitume and the Konza Technopolis hubs, which were established by the government to provide digital jobs and promote their innovations. She assured them of the government’s support in scaling up their innovations.

“Konza hub is equipped and helps the youth to incubate their solutions, simulate their innovations to meet global standards and package them for export,” she said.