The President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta has bagged an award from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in recognition of the president’s promotion of the use of ICT for sustainable development. The ICTs in Sustainable Development Award honours the important contributions made by leaders, on behalf of their countries, towards harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable development.
The other African country heads awarded were; Mr Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic and H.E. Mr Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda.
“The leaders recognized at this event set the benchmark for improving access, affordability and application of ICTs to drive socio-economic development. With the international community on the brink of agreeing a bold 2030 agenda, it is clear ICTs have a fundamental role to play in the achievement of the new Sustainable Development Goals. ITU will be doing everything in its power to support our members – both government and private industry – in driving sustainable development through ICTs, and will work tirelessly to ensure the benefits of ICTs are available and accessible to all the world’s people.” Said Secretary-General Houlin Zhao
President Kenyatta was given the award for the impressive progress Kenya has made in ICT development and the important role technology is playing in achieving development and service delivery goals.
The award is also meant to encourage nations to seek technological solutions to meet national and global aspirations for a sustainable and inclusive future.
Speaking at the event held at the UN Headquarters, President Kenyatta said the government remains committed to mainstreaming innovations and ICT to enable growth and development for the country and the whole region.
“Our National ICT Master Plan and National Broadband Strategy outlines our desired path to a knowledge-based economy where ICTs underpin service delivery, and provide the bedrock of our activities in critical sectors of the economy, especially agriculture, education and health,” President Kenyatta said.
The president announced plans to launch Enterprise Kenya, a fund to encourage and support innovation in the country.
“This fund will be used to aid budding Kenyan innovators and start-ups to enable them get the necessary financial support to move from idea to start-up and from start-up possibly to market in good time,” said President Kenyatta.
