Kenya's Communications Authority Emerging Technologies Sandbox — Three Applications, One Acceptance and a Critic Calling It Toothless

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) operates an Emerging Technologies Regulatory Sandbox, described by the Datasphere Initiative as the first of its kind in Africa outside the financial sector. It lets startups, developers and innovators test ICT products, with AI-driven services, AI-enabled e-learning, e-health, IoT and smart-city tools named as in scope, for 6 to 12 months with direct regulator access and incentives such as waived fees and exemptions.
The Datasphere case study (which dates the launch to 2023) records 3 applications, 1 accepted and 2 under consideration, and lists challenges: unclear regulatory pathways for ICT innovations, ambiguity for emerging technologies, and limited support for combined hardware-software products. Lessons noted are that early engagement between innovators and regulators can clarify compliance paths and that sandbox data can inform later regulation. A call for the 2026/27 financial year closed on 30 July 2026.
A July 2026 opinion piece in The Star by technologist Ahmed Abdirahman argues the scheme lacks a published track record of participants or outcomes, a defined evaluation standard, clear consequences for harm during testing, and binding powers, contrasting it with the Capital Markets Authority sandbox; he also says it took three years from the January 2023 consultation to an online portal and omits higher-stakes AI uses such as credit scoring. This is commentary, not an audit.
The practice is included as a cautionary, early-stage case: an announced framework with very small uptake and no published results.

Read the full analysis: https://sandboxes.thedatasphere.org/resources/case-studies/case-study-kenya/