Kenya is set to host one of Africa's largest internet and data company following an announcement by an international firm based in the United States of America (USA).
On Monday, February 28, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) president, Göran Marby, stated that the data hub would help in increasing the internet speed in Kenya and Africa.
Additionally, the hub that will be established by the US company with its headquarters in Los Angeles, California will also be used to protect companies' and government agencies' websites from cyber attacks.
Further, the establishment will see Kenyans enjoy faster page loading time for various websites.
"Extending our infrastructure in Africa is in line with ICANN's mission to ensure that the internet remains secure, stable and resilient across the world,"
"Adding the clusters in Africa is a key step to stimulating Internet access and to strengthening the Internet stability of the entire continent. Of course, this could only be achieved with the participation of the local community," he stated.
Marby added that Kenya was key in their plans to improve the internet connectivity in Africa further thanking the government for providing them with the opportunity to make investments in Kenya.
"We are grateful to the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs in Kenya for their support in establishing the IMRS cluster in their country, and for their commitment to advancing the Internet in the continent," the president stated.
On the other hand, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru stated that the investment would be beneficial to the economy noting that the investment was a show of faith in the country and its economy.
"This initiative is a welcome positive development both in line with the African Digital Transformation Strategy (2020-2030) and more specifically with Kenya's Digital Economy Blueprint which identifies infrastructure as one of the five key pillars necessary for the digital transformation of the economy.
"We, therefore, thank ICANN for their confidence in choosing Kenya one more time as one of the hosts of this important infrastructure that would serve not only Kenya but the rest of Africa and the world. Implementation of this initiative will be of immense importance in accelerating the digital transformation agenda in Kenya," he stated.
Upon its completion, Kenya will become the first African country to host the servers which are located in the USA. Asia and Europe.
