Kenya’s CA Targets Digital Skills Training For 120,000 People

Connectivity without the skills to use it doesn't close the digital divide. The CA is trying to fix the second part.

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Kenya's Communications Authority has set a target of training 120,000 people in digital skills over the next three years, covering 19 counties that remain underserved by digital infrastructure. The programme runs through the Authority's Universal Service Fund under its Digital Skilling Project.

The logic behind the initiative is straightforward. Kenya has been expanding internet connectivity at a serious pace, but access to a network and the ability to use it productively are two different things. The CA is betting that the next phase of Kenya's digital transformation depends on closing that gap.

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What the Programme Actually Covers

The focus is on communities where digital infrastructure is either absent or limited, targeting people who have had the least exposure to online services. The skills being taught are intended to help people use digital technologies confidently, safely, and in ways that are sustainable over time.

For residents in underserved counties, that means access to online government services, financial platforms, education resources, and employment opportunities that currently sit out of reach — not because the internet doesn't exist nearby, but because the knowledge to navigate it does.

The Digital Skilling Project sits within Kenya's National Digital Master Plan 2022–2032, which identified digital skills as one of the key areas requiring investment alongside infrastructure.

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The Harder Problem It's Trying to Solve

Kenya has invested heavily in broadband networks and connectivity infrastructure. The returns on that investment depend partly on whether the people connected to those networks can actually use what's available to them.

Eng. Dennis Chepkwony, the CA's Director of Universal Service Fund, flagged collaboration as the central challenge in reaching the targeted communities. The programme relies on partnerships between the Authority and other stakeholders to extend reach beyond what the CA can do alone.

120,000 people across 19 counties over three years is a specific, measurable target. Whether the programme delivers on it, and what people do with those skills afterward, will be the real test of whether digital skilling at this scale produces economic outcomes or just completion numbers.

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