Kenya and Italy team up to accelerate AI training and research 🇰🇪🫱🏾‍🫲🏻🇮🇹

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Kenya and Italy are stepping up their academic and technological cooperation with a new agreement focused on artificial intelligence, innovation, and technical training. Signed in Nairobi on February 9, 2026, the memorandum of understanding comes at a time when demand for digital skills in Kenya’s job market is accelerating rapidly.

A push for higher education and innovation 🎓

The agreement was formalized at State House in Nairobi in the presence of Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and Italy’s Minister of Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini.

At its core, the deal is designed to deepen collaboration in higher education, technical training, and scientific research. It lays out plans for joint academic programs, student and faculty exchanges, and shared research initiatives in key technology fields. Infrastructure sharing and co-developed research projects are also on the table.

The objective is clear: strengthen knowledge transfer and build capacity in strategic domains, particularly artificial intelligence.

Beyond universities, the partnership also targets technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions. The agreement includes plans to modernize equipment and upgrade facilities, placing local digital capacity-building at the center of this bilateral effort.

A national AI strategy in motion 🧠

The initiative aligns with Kenya’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030, launched in March 2025. The country sees AI as a lever to enhance competitiveness in the digital economy.

The roadmap rests on three pillars: expanding digital infrastructure, strengthening data governance, and accelerating innovation.

Importantly, the strategy also incorporates ethical and inclusive considerations. It aims to promote responsible AI adoption while enabling commercialization and industry growth. Kenya’s broader ambition is to position itself as a regional hub for digital talent and AI-driven solutions.

Several concrete initiatives are already supporting this vision. The Digi AI Bus program, for instance, deploys mobile classrooms to train young people in coding, computing fundamentals, and AI basics. Meanwhile, institutions such as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology are rolling out specialized programs in data science and artificial intelligence, often in partnership with international universities.

Meeting surging demand for tech skills 📈

The partnership with Italy comes as demand for advanced tech skills surges across Kenya. Employers are actively seeking professionals with expertise in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.

According to a July 2025 report by recruitment platform BrighterMonday, based on an analysis of more than 1.3 million profiles and 70,000 employers, 43% of companies report demand for AI-related skills. Cybersecurity tops the list, cited by 86% of employers, while 79% identify cloud computing as a strategic priority.

These figures underscore the scale of the challenge. Kenya must rapidly develop a workforce capable of designing, deploying, and securing digital solutions tailored to both private-sector and public-sector needs.

Against this backdrop, strengthening the academic and innovation ecosystem is about more than symbolic cooperation. The goal is to build an end-to-end pipeline — from education and research to industrial application — that can anchor Kenya more firmly in the global AI economy.

👉🏾 Can international partnerships like this meaningfully accelerate AI capacity-building in Africa — or should the focus first be on reinforcing local ecosystems before scaling global collaborations?