Kenya’s expansion of internet access over the past decade has been rapid and broad-based, but new data shows it has also entrenched a digital divide between a small cluster of highly connected counties and large parts of the country that remain on the margins of the digital economy.
- •Nationally, the proportion of individuals aged three years and above using the internet rose to 35% in 2024, up from 22.7% in 2019 and 16.6% in 2015/16.
- •While access has increased across every county, connectivity remains heavily concentrated in urban and peri-urban regions around Nairobi.
- •In 2024, Nairobi City recorded internet usage of 64.7%, nearly double the national average while Kiambu and Nyeri followed at 54% and 50.1% respectively, placing all three counties well ahead of the rest of the country.
By contrast, large parts of Kenya remain well below the national average despite notable progress. Counties such as Turkana (12.7%), West Pokot (9.1%), Tana River (15.5%), and Marsabit (16.3%) reported internet usage levels that stood below 20% in 2024.
The data also reveals a second, more complex story: some of the fastest growth in internet access has occurred in counties that started from extremely low bases, narrowing relative gaps without altering the overall geography of digital power.
Wajir, for example, recorded internet usage of just 2.0% in 2015/16, rising to 8.4% in 2019 and surging to 24.2% in 2024. Mandera followed a similar trajectory, increasing from 5.4% to 7.9%, and then to 24.9% over the same period.
Kitui county’s digital access figures tripled to 26.2% in 2024. Isiolo rose from 10.5% in 2015/16 to 14.3% in 2019, before climbing sharply to 33.1% in 2024. These gains reflect broader mobile broadband rollout, rising smartphone ownership, and growing reliance on digital services.
However, higher access has not translated uniformly into economic capability. Many counties with sharply rising connectivity remain well below the levels seen in Nairobi and its surrounding counties, and lack the infrastructure, skills base, and industrial concentration needed to convert access into sustained digital production.
This divergence highlights a growing gap between being connected and being competitive. Counties such as Kitui (26.2%), Bomet (20.6%), and Homa Bay (27.7%) are now significantly more connected than they were a decade ago, but still trail behind counties that host major urban centers, universities, technology firms, and diversified labor markets.
The data suggests that digital access in Kenya is expanding fastest where economic and infrastructural foundations already exist, and only gradually altering outcomes elsewhere. Counties with dense populations, reliable electricity, and diversified economies continue to capture the bulk of the gains from digital adoption.
