The Battle for Digital Sovereignty in Kenya’s Cloud Era: Critical Infrastructure, Banking, and FinTech Systems Kenya’s digital economy is one of the most advanced in Africa, driven by rapid innovation in fintech, mobile money, e-government services, and cloud adoption. Platforms like M-Pesa and national digital systems have positioned the country as a regional leader in digital transformation. However, beneath this success lies a growing structural risk: vendor lock-in in critical infrastructure systems . As government agencies, banks, telecom operators, and fintech companies increasingly rely on hyperscale cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, they become deeply dependent on external ecosystems they do not fully control. This dependency raises serious concerns around: Digital sovereignty Cybersecurity resilience Regulatory compliance Long-term operational flexibility Cost escalation and bargaining power This article explores how vendor lock-in is shapi...