I was in Kenya in late December 2009 and early January 2010 for a three week vacation; for the most part in Nairobi. Whilst I travel a lot to Eastern and Southern Africa due to my job often through Nairobi this was my first time back in Nairobi for an extended time.
We did many things but I especially enjoyed a picnic at Central Park ( the far north end of Uhuru Park) with my daughters and our great friends and hosts; swings and monkey bars for the kids, chips from Kenchic :)
This is what I noticed;
Infrastructure;
- There are so many road construction and reconstruction projects underway. I was aware that work on the Mombasa - Nairobi - Nakuru - Eldoret highway is done, not so sure about the section to Kisumu. But I was blown away by the work on Thika Road and the work with plans for overpasses onto the Museum Hill round about and the University Way.
- Many of the housing projects that had stalled in the Nyayo era have been completed, most notably the eyesore that was the houses next to the entrance of Nyayo Highrise off Mbagathi Road.
- More traffic lights at the roundabouts, but the traffic policemen and women continue to control traffic themselves to the chagrin of many.
Education;
- There has been exponential growth in university education with many more private universities and public universities have set up constituent colleges throughout the country in the major towns and cities.
- The number of day secondary schools continues to increase enabling many more young people to attend because the costs are subsidised.
- Many ICT related courses being offered by colleges, ranging from SMS service provision to mobile phone application development.
- The continued release of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results by the Kenya National Examinations Council website and via SMS highlights the amazing uptake of the use of the Internet and mobile phones.
Technology;
- Could Safaricom be the the largest ISP in Kenya? Rumor has it that they will soon start registering domains as a KENIC reseller.
- Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) is undertaking an ambitious project to replace all the meters and replace them with pre-paid units for the domestic customers.
- You can now get directions when driving in Nairobi through Google Maps Kenya. In other parts of the country you can locate where you are.
Media;
- Whilst I did not get to listen to as much radio as I wanted to :( It was evident that there is continued growth in the radio and TV stations, with more live programming and increased local productions whose quality has improved significantly.
- The music industry is doing very well; many more musicians who believe in themselves writing and recording great music and with great videos.
Services;
- Retail services are being provided closer to where people live. It was amazing to go and shop at the Tusky's supermarket in Ongata Rongai on Dec 26th and find all I wanted to buy for my folks.
- Equity Bank are aggressively working towards developing the largest ATM network, their collaboration with Safaricom will surely enhance this. Rumor has it that Pesa Point is struggling ...
- It was great to be able to send money on a Sunday morning, using my dads M-PESA account!
- Equity Group Foundation by Equity Bank watch this space ...
Finally a visit to Kirinyaga Road to accompany a friend buy a battery for his car and buying a mandazi for 5 KES from a lady on the roadside in Buru Buru greatly encouraged me and motivated me. I was reminded of how hard working many ordinary people in Kenya are. Against great odds they continue to work hard to feed their families and provide them with an education.
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