A national skilling initiative spanning five counties reaches 152 Kenyans with foundational artificial intelligence training, part of a broader drive to position the country as Africa’s leading AI talent hub.
By MKT Reporter
When Stanbic Kenya Foundation and Microsoft sat down to plan the rollout of the Microsoft Elevate AI National Skilling Initiative, they made a deliberate choice: start not in Nairobi’s technology corridors, but in the counties. Yesterday’s announcement that 152 participants have completed training across Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Embu signals that the initiative is moving beyond aspiration and into action.
The programme, delivered in partnership with Pathways Technologies and Konza Technopolis, targets trainers and institutions rather than individual learners alone — a train-the-trainer model designed to multiply impact. By equipping instructors at technical and vocational institutions with both foundational and practical AI skills, the initiative aims to generate a cascade effect, reaching far more Kenyans than a single cohort of direct trainees could.
The ambitions behind it are national in scale. Microsoft’s AI National Skilling Initiative for Kenya aims to train one million people in AI and cybersecurity by 2027, aligned with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Digital Masterplan, and targeting a Kenya that is firmly positioned as a global leader in AI talent. The Stanbic Foundation’s participation gives the programme direct reach into the networks that formal technology partnerships often miss: small and medium enterprises, youth organisations, and county-level communities that lie beyond the pull of the capital’s tech ecosystem.
Mercy Githanji, head of Stanbic Kenya Foundation, said digital literacy sits at the heart of the foundation’s work and shapes how it selects and structures its partnerships. “Through this pillar, we partner with TVETs and Vocational Training Centres to build the capacity of instructors to deliver digital skills training that supports employability, entrepreneurship and participation in the digital economy,” she said. The foundation has been building toward this moment since 2021, working with partners to equip women, youth and micro, small and medium enterprises with 21st-century digital skills. Through its Future ni Digital platform, more than 250,000 Kenyans have accessed training across basic, intermediate and advanced skills since 2019.
Winnie Karanu, skills elevate director at Microsoft Africa, said the partnership model had proved critical to making AI training relevant beyond major urban centres. “Through partners like Stanbic Foundation, we have been able to deliver training via county-level engagements and community-based platforms, expanding access beyond major cities,” Karanu said. “Content has also been tailored to include key sectors such as agriculture, entrepreneurship and small business operations, ensuring practical relevance.” That last point matters enormously in a country where the majority of the workforce operates in agriculture and the informal economy, sectors that stand to gain substantially from AI tools if the skills to use them are accessible.
Kenya’s expanded AI and digital skills partnership is also underpinned by a government target to equip 20 million citizens with digital skills by 2032, supported by the Digital Superhighway Agenda and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. The programme leverages Jitume digital hubs, which serve as centres for digital skills training and innovation, providing access to technology, online learning platforms, and mentorship opportunities that enable participants to gain hands-on experience in AI and other digital tools. With more than 200 Digital Hubs and Jitume Centres spread across Kenya’s 47 counties, the infrastructure to scale already exists. What the Stanbic and Microsoft partnership is now providing is the content, the instructors and the institutional relationships to fill those hubs with purpose.
For the 152 participants who completed training across the five counties, the immediate benefit is practical: skills that can be applied in classrooms, workshops and small businesses from the coast to the central highlands. For Kenya, the longer-term return is the foundation of an AI-ready workforce built not in a single city but across the country — one trainer, one county, one cohort at a time.
