The Current Developments in Nairobi's Tech Scene

Looking at the IT industry in Nairobi, we can see by far the digitalization efforts done by Kenya in the last several years. Many tech events are present in this city, like Nairobi Tech Week, which is under the Digital Economy, aligning with the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2023-2027.

One important aspect in this direction is the consistent growth of the number of startups, which, according to StartupBlink, has grown to 414 in 2024. Additionally, the contribution of the ICT sector of Kenya, including Nairobi as a tech hub, to the country’s GDP is approximately 9.24% in 2025, compared to 7% in 2022.

While some call Nairobi the Silicon Savannah, the city still has a lot of room for growth in terms of digitalization and IT capabilities. The most recent case of a tech giant that hired the local workforce is OpenAI. According to Time Magazine, the tech giant cleaned up its AI tool of toxicity using Kenyans who provided their services for less than $2/hour.

Nonetheless, the salary of a software developer in Nairobi starts at $1.39 per hour and $5,354/year, according to Payscale.

Considering the salary range and the OpenAI case, Nairobi is attractive for international IT companies that seek a cheap workforce to outsource their Information and Technology activities in Africa.
The list of notable companies located in Nairobi includes Asus, Cisco Systems, Intel, IBM, and Huawei, according to Wikipedia data as of November 2023.