NEWS

Cybersecurity Must Accompany Kenya’s Digital Infrastructure Expansion

Growing investment in data centres, fibre, cloud infrastructure and telecommunications can strengthen Kenya’s digital economy but must be accompanied by…

Cybersecurity Must Accompany Kenya’s Digital Infrastructure Expansion

Kenya continues to strengthen its position as an important digital-infrastructure hub in Africa.

China’s Guodong Group has indicated interest in establishing its African headquarters in Kenya alongside potential investment of up to USD 300 million in telecommunications towers, data centres, fibre infrastructure, cloud services and smart-city technologies.

Such investment could expand connectivity and accelerate Kenya’s digital economy.

However, critical digital infrastructure must also be designed with cybersecurity, resilience and data governance in mind.

Important considerations include infrastructure ownership, supply-chain dependencies, incident reporting, continuity arrangements, protection of sensitive data and compliance with national cybersecurity requirements.

Cybersecurity should therefore be incorporated during procurement, design and deployment rather than added after systems become operational.

As Kenya invests in the infrastructure of its digital future, security and resilience should remain fundamental design requirements.