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When phones start listening: Voice as Kenya’s new digital gateway
In Kenya, industries such as banking and telcos are already experimenting with interactive voice response (IVR) systems for customer care, though the deployment still remains clunky and limited.
In a country where typing in English on a small smartphone screen still locks out millions, Kenya’s next big digital leap is less likely to come from another app or data-heavy platform but rather from the human voice.
As global tech shifts towards speech-driven interfaces, Kenya’s unique mix of high mobile penetration and stubborn literacy gaps positions it as a likely testbed for voice-first technology.
This is buoyed by artificial intelligence’s (AI)’s growing fluency in Swahili and Sheng’ and local dialects, increasingly shifting the idea of talking to technology from novelty to necessity.
With AI now able to process native languages, voice is emerging as a natural bridge into technology for millions still locked out by small screens, English-based menus and the demands of typing.
According to market research firm Statista, global smart speaker sales are projected to exceed 200 million units annually by 2026, and with it propelling voice commerce into becoming a multi-billion-dollar market.
Observers note that just as mobile money technology spread across the country without sleek applications, but via the simplicity of basic tools such as USSD codes that felt intuitive even on feature phones, voice is poised to be the natural successor.
“Picture a farmer in Kitale asking her phone for maize prices in plain Swahili, or a matatu crew in Mombasa checking fuel updates by speaking instead of scrolling through clunky menus,” poses Nairobi-based IT practitioner Sera Seiyanoi.
With over 76 million active mobile subscriptions, Kenya stands as having one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Africa. The high usage, however, does not translate into universal inclusion.
“For Kenya’s large Swahili-speaking population, together with the millions who use Sheng’ as their daily language of communication, voice interfaces powered by AI could make digital tools feel natural rather than foreign,” says Ms Seiyanoi.
On the global stage, voice is rapidly gaining ground as the next computing frontier. In India, for instance, companies have invested heavily in Hindi and regional-language voice assistance, a pointer that the future of digital inclusion lies in catering to local speech patterns.
In Kenya, industries such as banking and telcos are already experimenting with interactive voice response (IVR) systems for customer care, though the deployment still remains clunky and limited.
The emergence of voice-first technology aligns with Kenya’s broader ambitions to expand its digital economy. The government has already signalled its intent to integrate AI into public services, with a national AI strategy unveiled earlier this year.
But voice technology is not without obstacles. Key among these include infrastructural and connectivity gaps, as well as concerns around informational privacy.
AI incorporation, however, has the capacity to change the equation by making it possible for machines to understand natural speech, including non-standardised dialects.
This means services that once required typing can now be accessed by talking; farmers could receive crop-price updates through voice assistants, households could settle utility bills by speaking into their phones, and commuters could obtain transport schedules without scrolling through multiple menus.
For telcos and fintechs, the challenge will be to move beyond viewing voice as a customer-care tool and begin to see it as a core platform for service delivery.
Cultural perceptions are also bound to play a chief role, as some users may hesitate to speak personal information aloud, particularly in communal or public settings.
