With 99% of government services delivered online, over 96% of tax filings conducted digitally, and a nationwide public Wi-Fi network, Estonia is one of the world’s most technologically advanced nations.
However, the Baltic country’s impressive digital infrastructure was not built overnight. Estonia’s journey to becoming a pioneer of e-governance spans over three decades of targeted policymaking, public-private collaboration, and grassroots technological adoption.
Now, the e-state is leveraging its unique expertise to drive digital transformation abroad in developing countries like Kenya.
Laying the Groundwork: Ambition Meets Opportunity After Independence
Estonia’s push to become a digital society traces back to regaining independence in 1991 after half a century of Soviet occupation. As Daniel Schaer, Estonia’s Ambassador to Kenya and South Africa, stated:
“Estonia was just like any country across the globe that has freed itself from colonizers. It was poor but had big ambitions, and based on who you ask, it has managed to achieve them.”
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A key part of realizing these ambitions was modernizing governance infrastructure across the newly sovereign nation. However, transforming bureaucracies and public services was hugely challenging given Estonia’s modest economic resources.
Fortuitously, Estonia’s nation-building era coincided with the dawn of the internet age and rapid advances in digital connectivity. Policymakers recognized technology’s potential to efficiently deliver public services and increase transparency. An “e-Estonia” digital governance model began emerging – one uniquely tailored to the country’s capacities and limitations.
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Gradually introducing digital systems also enabled the government to prove their convenience and security to initially skeptical citizens. As online platforms demonstrated efficiencies firsthand for Estonians’ everyday needs, rapid grassroots adoption occurred organically across generations.
Major Digital Milestones to Benefit Citizens
Over the past 30 years, Estonia has leveraged this adaptive approach to achieve remarkable digitization milestones across governance and commerce:
- 99% of public services, 96% of tax declarations, and 99.6% of banking transactions are made digitally
- Internet access has been declared a basic human right
- Public Wi-Fi blankets cities and rural towns alike
- Digital signatures are given equal legal weight to handwritten ones
By prioritizing citizen convenience first, not just cost efficiencies, Estonia has organically transformed into one of the world’s most digital societies. Now, the e-state is exporting its governance innovations abroad to similarly ambitious countries.
Bringing Estonian Innovation in e-Governance to Kenya
As a leader in African innovation with established tech hubs and entrepreneurial talent, Kenya has been a priority target for introducing Estonian digital governance expertise. Estonia has especially deepened bilateral exchanges with Kenya in recent years through high-profile conferences and targeted technical collaborations.
Kenya has also embraced Estonian companies and innovations. Estonia’s ridesharing unicorn Bolt has operated lucrative ride-hailing services across Kenyan cities for years, making continual investments expected to benefit local stakeholders over the long term.
Beyond Bolt, multiple Estonian startups such as CoNurse App, Mondo and Spacedrip have entered the Kenyan market recently, spanning sectors from healthcare to FinTech. These newcomers have been empowered by a Nairobi-based Estonian tech hub aimed at spurring investments into local startups focused on high-growth areas like agritech and waste management.
With improved access to European commercial partnerships, funding channels, and technical expertise, the hub strives to elevate promising early-stage ventures tackling local challenges to regional scale and enhance bilateral private sector dialogue.
Kenya’s rapidly developing innovation ecosystem offers an inviting staging ground for Estonian firms to impact African communities while expanding their global footprint.
Hosting the Latitude59 Startup & Tech Event in Kenya
The Latitude59 startup conference, launched in Estonia over a decade ago, was hosted in Kenya last week. As Liisi Org, Latitude59’s founder, stated, the event brought together players shaping the “explosion of energy and massive growth in the global digital startup space, with Africa being no exception.” Kenya’s rising digital ecosystem was on full display.
The Estonian FinTech powerhouse Admirals was instrumental in bringing the Latitude59 conference to Nairobi, Kenya in 2023. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tallinn, Admirals now serves over 176 countries with affordable and secure retail trading and investing platforms.
These regulated online brokerages provide financial products from stocks and forex to commodities and indices. With established operations across 8 regions including newly launched presences in Kenya and South Africa, Admirals will officially begin serving East African clients in early 2024.
While spearheading Latitude59’s expansion to Kenya, the company continues investing in local fintech ecosystem development and cementing its position as a nexus between European and African startups, investors, regulators and innovators.
Potential Digital ID System Collaboration
Estonia is now in discussions with Kenya around enhancing digital identity infrastructure – a centerpiece of efficient e-governance. On November 16, 2023, the Estonian Centre for International Development Cooperation (ESTDEV) announced a significant public procurement tender worth €300,000.
This initiative aims to support the Kenyan government in its ambitious digital transformation journey by enhancing its IT systems and implementing comprehensive e-citizen services, including a robust digital ID system similar to Estonia’s own highly successful e-Residency program.
Spearheaded by Andres Ääremaa, Head of Digital Development at ESTDEV, the project represents an international collaboration between ESTDEV, the European Union, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany’s leading development agency.
“So, we’re in negotiations with the Ministry of ICT to see which areas they would like us to focus on. I mean, it’s just that it is our specialty from Estonia, and what we’re really good at,” Daniel Schaer said.
If successful, Estonian firms would help develop digital ID interoperability, building on their role in Kenya’s earlier Huduma Namba system.
Bringing Proven Digital Governance Abroad
Without historical bureaucratic structures to overcome, Estonia carved an efficient digital governance model from scratch tailored specifically to the digital age.
With strong existing diplomatic and technical exchanges already underway, teaming up with Estonia could accelerate Kenya’s drive to become Africa’s flagship “e-state.”
More broadly, Estonia is well positioned to export its e-governance innovations across the developing world to countries similarly eager to leverage technology for 21st century growth and opportunity.
