Development of Telecommunications Services in Kenya and Economic Impact Since 2000

The information and communications technology sector is of great importance because of its role that helps achieve the goals of economic and social development. The importance of the research is that Kenya has taken many steps to improve and develop the telecommunications sector and the sector has also taken on great importance in Kenya’s vision for the year 2030, as the government intended to increase the sector’s participation in the gross domestic product to reach 10%. The research aims to explain in detail the development that has occurred in the communications sector and the extent of its contribution to the Kenyan economy. The research problem is that despite the efforts made by Kenya to advance the communications sector, however, the economic weight is still weak compared to other economic sectors, as well as its participation in the gross domestic product. Regarding the research methodology, the research relies on the descriptive analysis methodology, through time series analysis and tracking the development of relevant indicators. The results of the research concluded that there is a development in the communications sector in Kenya that has affected the legal, structural, market, technical and economic aspects, especially the field of mobile phones and the transition towards fifth generation technology, the information network (the Internet), as well as its participation in many submarine cables. Kenya has achieved remarkable progress across the continent in providing money transfer services via mobile phones. It has also increased the volume of coverage to reach larger areas of Kenyan territory and reach a larger number of citizens. It has also moved towards local manufacturing, increasing competition in the communications market and encouraging investment in the sector. Kenya also moved towards establishing data centers, taking into cybersecurity rules. However, the economic weight of the telecommunications sector and its participation in the gross domestic product is still weak in Kenya compared to other countries, as it did not exceed 1.3% in 2019, and there is still a gap between citizens in access to services, especially in rural areas. This prompted the researcher to search for weak points and provide some recommendations.