National Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Policy Guidelines, 2020
The Cabinet Secretary for Information Communications and Technology, Innovation and Youth Affairs has Gazetted amendments to the Policy Guidelines paragraph 6.2.4 under the heading “Equity Participation” and substituting therefore with a new paragraph as follows:
“6.2.4 Rules Equity Participation
The government encourages Kenyans to participate in the ICT sector through equity participation. It is the policy that only companies with at least thirty per centum (30%) substantive Kenyan ownership, either corporate or individual, will be licensed to provide ICT services.
For purposes of this rule:
(a) an existing licensee with less than twenty per centum (20%) local equity ownership and has not exhausted its three (3) years grace period will be required to meet the thirty per centum (30%) local equity ownership at the end of its grace period;
(b) an existing licensee that had met the twenty per centum (20%) local equity ownership prior to 7th August, 2020 will have two (2) years to meet the thirty per centum (30%) local equity ownership threshold with effect from the said date;
(c) an existing licensee that had a waiver granted under the ICT Sector Policy Guidelines of 2006 will have three (3) years to meet the local equity ownership threshold with effect from the date of this Notice;
(d) a new applicant for a licence will have three (3) years to meet the local equity ownership threshold from the date of issue of the licence;
(e) a company registered to exclusively offer Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services will be exempt from this rule.
A licensee may apply to the Cabinet Secretary for extension or exemption under this guideline.
For a listed company, the equity participation rules will conform to the extant rules of the Capital Markets Authority.”
The Gazette Notice is dated 25th March, 2021.