Kenya placed 22nd out of 56 Commonwealth countries in the Ayre Index of youth AI readiness, scoring 48.7 points.
The ranking, released on November 5, 2026 by the Ayre Think Tank founded by Calvin Ayre, puts Kenya ahead of Uganda (23rd, 47.0), Tanzania (25th, 45.5) and Rwanda (47th, 38.1) among the four East African Community members covered.
The index sets a benchmark of 53 points, which only 15 Commonwealth nations meet; Kenya falls 4.3 points short.
Singapore tops the index with 77.6 points, while South Africa (13th) and Nigeria (15th) are the highest-ranked African countries.
Applying International Monetary Fund scenarios to Kenya’s 2025 GDP, the think-tank estimates AI could enlarge the economy by US$1.971 billion in a moderate case, equivalent to KSh256.1 billion.
The conservative estimate is US$952 million (KSh123.7 billion) and the optimistic estimate US$2.991 billion (KSh388.7 billion).
The study notes Kenya’s potential gain is the third largest among the 41 countries below the benchmark, after Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Kenya has 16.7 million youths aged 15-29; 55.5 per cent of 15-year-olds said they assess AI-generated material in class, according to PISA 2025 data.
The Communications Authority of Kenya reported 4G coverage of 97.3 per cent of the population by June 2025, while the World Bank recorded electricity access at 77 per cent in 2024.
Businesses still experience internet disruptions, and the index highlights an operational data protection authority and legal safeguards for some automated decisions.
In 2025, entrepreneurship platform MESH and Microsoft reported that more than 55,000 young Kenyan micro-entrepreneurs completed AI skills training.
UNESCO said its AI and digital skills initiative reached over 5,300 beneficiaries, mainly students, across 23 technical and vocational institutions by the end of May 2026.
The index’s white paper outlines five priorities: affordable reliable technology access, education that builds practical skills, stronger pathways from training to jobs, AI tools suited to local languages, and safeguards for challenging automated decisions.
The Ayre Index draws on 1,128 sources, covers about 732 million young people across the Commonwealth, and scores countries across seven pillars and 102 indicators using an AI model with a fixed rubric.
For Kenya, the researchers could use data on 66 of the 102 indicators, including estimates where scoring rules allowed them, but lacked sufficient data to score a separate category on youths’ ability to question AI.
The think-tank has published the underlying data and code so the scores can be independently reproduced.
“AI is going to change how we work, how we do business and how wealth is created. But this is not a race that only the biggest or richest countries can win,” said Calvin Ayre.
“We need to make sure that the next generation will be able to do more than just consume AI products made elsewhere,” said Professor C. Justin Robinson, pro vice-chancellor and campus principal of the University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus.
