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The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has directed that every business importing or distributing communication equipment must hold a Communications Equipment Distributor (CED) licence. The directive covers phones, routers, modems, and other telecommunication gear. It applies with immediate effect, including to businesses already in the trade.

CA Director General David Mugonyi said on Monday that existing holders of the older Telecommunications Equipment Contractor and Vendor licences must now apply for the CED licence if they want to continue importing or distributing equipment. Any new company wanting to import communication equipment must obtain the licence first.

What the licence costs

The numbers come from the CA’s own Revised Telecommunications Market Structure document. The application fee is KES 5,000, which is non-refundable. The initial licence fee is KES 250,000. Licensees then pay an annual operating fee of 0.4% of gross turnover, or KES 120,000, whichever is higher. The licence runs for 15 years and is renewable.

The CED licence covers importing equipment, buying from local manufacturers, and selling at wholesale. It also covers after-sales support and spare parts. It does not cover installation and maintenance, which fall under a separate contractor licence.

One important distinction: the small phone shop in town does not need to pay KES 250,000. Retail-level sellers fall under the Communications Equipment Vendor class licence, which has no fees. The catch is that vendors must stock type-approved equipment sourced from licensed CED distributors. The cost sits at the top of the chain, with the importers and wholesalers.

This licence is not actually new

The framing matters here. The CED licence was created when the CA gazetted its revised telecommunications market structure in March 2026, taking effect about a month later. What happened on Monday is enforcement: the CA telling the industry that the transition window is over and the licence is now mandatory for everyone in the import and distribution business.

The idea goes back further. The CA first proposed it in late 2024 as the Telecommunications Equipment Distributor licence, with identical fees. Small electronics dealers pushed back. TechCabal reported in February 2025 that retailers feared the cost would squeeze small players out or get passed on to buyers.

The CA’s justification is counterfeits and safety. The regulator has claimed that up to 40% of phones in the Kenyan market are fake. That is the CA’s own figure, but the problem it points to is real. We already covered the CA red-flagging 21 mobile phone brands over safety and compliance concerns, and we have documented how messy the type approval register itself has been.

How the pieces connect

Licensing the importers is one layer of a bigger control system the government has been building around devices. Every device model entering Kenya must be type-approved by the CA. Import clearance runs through the TradeNet single window, where invoices must list model numbers and quantities. Phone IMEI numbers are submitted to KRA under the disclosure rules that took effect in January 2025, which we broke down in detail when they were announced. The CED licence now adds a registry of who is allowed to bring devices in at all.

Operating without the required licence carries penalties under the Kenya Information and Communications Act of a fine of up to KES 1 million, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

What this means in practice

For importers and distributors, the action item is immediate: apply for the CED licence through the CA, because the directive has no published grace period. For consumers, two effects are worth watching. Prices could edge up if distributors pass on the KES 250,000 plus the annual turnover fee. And the market should get cleaner over time, since every layer from importer to retail shelf now sits inside a licensing and type-approval chain. If the CA enforces this the way it has been enforcing type approval lately, buying a phone from a licensed dealer becomes the safest way to know it is real.