WHY NAIROBI IS AFRICA'S CAPITAL

In today's EastAfrican Standard, i came across this article as to why Real Africa Eats, Sleeps and Drinks in Nairobi.

Here is the whole article:

Landing at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in 1996 was like stepping from Earth onto Mars — an alien land —watched by M-16 wielding airport security guards and a sizzling tang smell best classified as faecal matter.

Missionaries — Nairobi’s greatest import of white faces — rightfully swapped horror stories about walking in the capital after dark, cluttering their chatter with words like ‘robbery’, ‘murder’ and "leave the house after 6pm at your own risk".

In 1996, Nairobi was living in 1896. But thanks to the democratically elected President Kibaki, and the proud willfulness of Kenyans, Nairobi is now a thriving, modern and relatively safe gateway into East Africa. How times have changed in 11 years!

Now, Snickers bars and Smirnoff Vodka are displayed for sale in brightly lit airport shops, next door to a Java House, Nairobi’s emphatic answer to Starbucks.

While the availability of such status items of modernity may appear archaic to Chinese children accustomed to 10 per cent GDP prosperity, in Nairobi they are evidence that Kenya has arrived in a global world.

As advertised on monstrous Coca Cola billboards on Nairobi streets, Kenyans now aim to "Live on the ‘Coke’ side of Life". Kenya, like China, is modernising, and the evidence is in the cities. Nairobi’s main drag, four-lane Kenyatta Avenue, snakes through the city connecting the outlying slums and rich estates with the high-rise steel of downtown Nairobi.

Dotting the way are palm trees and lush green plants championed by the equatorial sun, and suicidal private buses called matatus — fast rides distinguishable by their splashy paint-on names such as Ice Cube, Manchester United, and Player Hater.

Most refreshing about downtown Nairobi, however, is the skyline. Nairobi may be a bustling metropolis of four million people, but the downtown still retains a comfortable charm, or quaintness, most notable when travelling from Beijing’s six-mile wide mega-tropolis to Nairobi’s half-mile city centre.

Here, the stampede of human feet still holds precedent over cars. McDonalds is non-existent, but Wimpy Burger isn’t, neither is the fake Hooters rip-off. Also absent is the exaggerated glam of Chinese dance-clubs, swapped for dark and frenetic and stripped-down joints like Taco, Zip, Tropez and Ibiza.

Speaking of the nightlife … I walk into Tropez Ibiza at 11pm on a Friday night, aware of my obtrusive whiteness, but not preoccupied by it. Like much of Kenya, Tropez lacks pretension, over-hyped attention to style, and all cynical hipster irony. When asked "How you doing?" you’re not "Doing good." You’re "easy". Here, Guinness bottles are served, but I am told it would be near sacrilegious not to try Tusker brand.

Winner of 16 Monde Gold Selection awards since its inception in 1922, Tusker is amusingly named after the elephant that killed its first hop creator. Spotting the bar at the corner, I walk over and order two drinks, only to realise the Sh500 I walked in with is no longer in my pocket.

I’ve been robbed already," I yell to my friend. Wrong. Before entering the club, I had hidden the cash in a secret pant-pocket, and had forgotten I had done so. Didn’t trick any pickpockets, but tricked myself. I blame the jet lag, and continue with the night…

Tropez Ibiza, I soon realise, is but an extension of a Nigerian-based culture of Cool emerging in Kenya. Leading the charge is a local TV station, a bad-boy channel showcasing hip-hop videos and culture and commercialism, helping define a divide between Kenya young and hip ‘have’ culture and their left-behind ‘have-not’ population.

In 1996, when SkyNews ruled local TV and the Internet had yet to explode, Nairobi’s self-identity was very insular. Now, characters like 2 Pac, Bob Marley, 50 Cent and Omarion are ambassadors. So is having the richest cell phone, the nicest weave and money to party.

In the middle of all this is a strong Chinese community in Nairobi. According to the Chinese Embassy, 7,000 Chinese nationals are registered in Nairobi. They have established construction companies, churches, textile shops, car dealerships and other businesses.

Yet, perhaps, the most authentic experience is to visit a Maasai village. The Maasai lay claim to Kenya’s most fresh scenery. But don’t be fooled: The tribe’s elders may boast killing lions at age 13 and drinking cow blood, but these are people confronting the reality and the dwindling vestiges of their existence.

The evidence is in their eyes and expression — half the population knows there is a world outside their village and want in. The other half also knows there is an outside world, but are happy staying put in their close community of friends and family.

Ultimately, what is most refreshing about Kenya is that it is still very African. There is no McDonalds or Starbucks to escape to. It may be modernising, but globalism is refreshingly taking baby-steps. Still, as in 1996, everywhere you go, everything you smell and everyone you meet is still African, foreign.

There is no feud in asking: "Where is the real Africa?" The real Africa eats, sleeps and breathes in Nairobi.

Article by Ted Fackler, an American Journalist in Beijing - China. Posted here by assidous.