New Needs Assessment Maps Kenya's Digital Skills Gap for MSMEs and Marginalized Communities

A new needs assessment from the Green and Digital Innovation Hub (gDIH) offers one of the most detailed pictures yet of how micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and marginalized populations across Kenya are engaging with the digital economy.

Drawing on 854 responses collected across 14 innovation hubs under the DigiKen programme, the report finds a population that is already active online, selling products, banking digitally and producing content, but still missing the specific skills needed to convert that activity into durable economic opportunity.

The findings reveal a consistent pattern. Confidence runs high in everyday digital tasks such as mobile banking and video consumption, yet drops sharply in higher order capabilities like digital marketing, data analytics, cybersecurity and business scaling through automation. 57.8 percent of respondents said they sell products or services online, yet only 6.2 percent operate a website, showing heavy reliance on third party platforms that leaves businesses exposed to account loss and algorithm changes. Interest in artificial intelligence is strong across the board even where hands on experience remains limited, pointing to a population ready to adopt new tools once given practical, guided training.

Note:

All joint programmes of the Joint SDG Fund are led by UN Resident Coordinators and implemented by the agencies, funds, and programmes of the United Nations development system. With sincere appreciation for the contributions from the European Union and Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Arab Gulf Programme for Development for a transformative movement towards achieving the SDGs by 2030.