President William Ruto on Tuesday welcomed Kenyan students and lecturers who excelled at the 2026 Global Huawei ICT Competition during a ceremony at State House, Nairobi.

The competition, the world’s largest ICT skills contest, attracted over 220,000 participants from more than 2,000 institutions across 100 countries. Only 177 teams from 49 countries advanced to the global finals held in Shenzhen, China.

Kenya’s delegation impressed by securing top honours, with all three university teams returning home with awards. Notably, the Kenyan Cloud Track Team clinched the Grand Prize, marking the country’s first top award since joining the competition in 2019.

Ruto Highlights Innovation as Kenya’s Future

Addressing the winners, President Ruto praised their achievement as evidence of Kenya’s potential to become a global technology leader. He emphasized that future success will belong to innovators who create new technologies rather than those who only use existing ones.

He identified emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, biotechnology, and space technology as critical areas that will define the future. Ruto stressed the importance of nurturing talent in these sectors to boost national competitiveness.

“The nations that cultivate innovators rather than mere consumers of technology will be the nations that lead the 21st Century,” he said.

Kenya’s Growing Role in Global ICT

The President expressed pride in the Kenyan teams’ global success and encouraged continued investment in developing ICT skills to position Kenya as a technology powerhouse.

  • 2026 Global Huawei ICT Competition had over 220,000 participants globally.
  • Kenya’s Cloud Track Team won the Grand Prize—the country’s first since 2019.
  • All three Kenyan university teams earned global honours.

This recognition underscores Kenya’s rising influence in the global technology arena and highlights the country’s young innovators as key drivers of future economic and social transformation.