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Digital sector lifts economic growth

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The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has expanded by 11% in 2017 compared to 9.7% in 2016. This performance was mainly supported by expansion of the digital economy through mobile telephony, e-commerce, online training as well as tax administration contributing to economic growth.

According to the Economic Survey 2018, the value of ICT output increased by 10.9% to Ksh 345.1 billion in 2017. Giving statistics on the survey report, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Director General Zachary Mwangi said the growth was driven by improved performance in the telecommunication sub sector which rose by 12.7% in 2017

“The enhanced performance in the telecommunication was mainly on account of a notable increase in the volume of call traffic from 42.2 billion minutes in 2016 to 44.1 billion minutes in 2017”, he said.

Mwangi added that the Short Message Service (SMS) rose significantly by 41.8% to stand at 65.7 billion SMSs during the review period, while mobile money transfer rose to Sh 3.6 trillion in 2017.

The DG said the sectors growth was also supported by increased use of the internet as evidenced by a 6.5% increase in utilisation of available bandwidth.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s Kenya ICT Outlook 2017, the country’s IT service providers are expected to take advantage of big data analytic

The global research and analysis firm says affordable internet and smartphone adoption has made a significant impact on ICT service provision and application in the country.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, who presided over the release of the survey report, asked decision makers to use the report of the various sectors presented as a source of statistical information and a reference material for economic planning and policy formulation processes.

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