President William Ruto has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to prioritize online advertisements to boost the digital economy and create jobs. This move aims to increase content visibility and earnings for local creators on digital platforms.

• Among four African countries whose content creators are monetized on Facebook is now Kenya, following the government's negotiations.
• President Ruto will deepen partnerships with global tech giants during his upcoming visit to the United States.
• Key priorities include integrating M-PESA into Facebook's payment system and enabling Google ad purchases via M-PESA, benefiting both creatives and MSMEs.

President William Ruto announced that Kenya is in talks with Meta, Facebook's parent company, to integrate M-PESA for content creator payments. This initiative aims to provide Kenyan digital content creators with easier and faster access to their earnings.

• The goal is to allow creators to directly receive their earnings on the popular mobile money platform, bypassing costly international middlemen and payment delays.
• President Ruto stated that the government is targeting to grow the creative industry's contribution to Kenya's GDP from approximately 5 percent to 30 percent.
• Meta officially rolled out monetization features for Kenyan creators in June, including in-stream ads and subscriptions, but some creators have reported slow payments.
• President Ruto is expected to meet Meta executives during an upcoming trip to the United States to negotiate this payment integration.

President William Ruto announced his first visit to the United States since Donald Trump began his second term, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His primary goal is to secure partnerships to bolster Kenya’s creative industry, notably through collaboration with the Grammy Awards organizers.

• President Ruto will meet with the Recording Academy, organizers of the Grammy Awards, to bring world-class music studios to Kenya and explore hosting an African Grammy Awards edition in Nairobi.
• The trip, announced at the Kenya National Music Festival State Gala in Nyeri on Saturday, August 16, aims to enable Kenyan artists to produce international-standard music.
• Ruto also plans to meet with leaders of major tech companies to expand collaboration for Kenyan creators, including integrating M-Pesa into Facebook’s payment system for faster payouts.