Kenya has been selected to host an Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) which will support sharing and use of open source software in Africa.
The office will be second of its kind under the pilot Open Source Ecosystem Enabler (OSEE) project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union.
According to UNDP, OSPOs which are designed to help institutions adopt open-source tools, manage software licensing and build the digital skills needed to work with open-source software systems and digital communities will further facilitate digital transformation in Arica.
The announcement which was made during Fifth Regional Preparatory Meeting for ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference 2025 held in Nairobi on Wednesday where member countries proposed the next Regional Initiatives in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) development strategies in the Africa region.
“Going to the WTDC-25, Africa is not sitting on the periphery any more. We are intentional with what we seek to achieve, and we must sustain this unity of purpose to a prosperous future, where ICTs/telecommunications remain the cornerstone of our progress,” said William Kabogo, Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.
During the meeting, member also considered the high-level framework for cooperation to develop a digital public infrastructure (DPI) roadmap for Kenya, in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office and the Germain Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The meeting also considered a Ksh 2 billion project on Africa’s National Broadband Mapping System, in collaboration with the European Union.
“Africa is home to many of the world’s Landlocked Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries: digital can turn their challenges into opportunities and, for this to happen, political will is key,” said Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director, ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau.
The Regional Initiatives will be considered by the next ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-25), which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 28 November 2025.