Nairobi,potrait of Africa's fastest growing city.

 

Welcome to Nairobi, Capital city of the Country Kenya,located in East Africa.

Initially a Masai country with the name meaning " a place of cool water " in Maasai language.

This is the main business center in east and central africa and a wildlife capital, sometimes with chances of spotting plain game just when you begin to drive out of the Jomo Kenyatta international airport.

Current rating puts Nairobi as the fastest growing city in Africa with a population of approximately 4.5 million people. This is attributed by rural urban migration in search of employment as the initial growth after independence ( attained in 1963) saw centralization of all major industries in this capital.

The distance from the main international airport , Jomo Kenyatta ( named after Kenya,s first president) to the city  center is 18 kilometers and takes approximately 20 minutes off peak and can stretch upto 1 and a half to 2 hours during peak hours.

Of the 18kms , approximately 8kms has all the big industries, factories and godowns which are centralized on the Eastern part of the city. This is along Mombasa road which is mostly characterized by heavy commercial vehicles transiting with freight from and to the coastal town of Kenya which boasts one of the biggest ports of East and Central part of Africa.

The official language is English, the country having been colonized by the British. We have a national language , Kiswahili which is country wide spoken by all the 42 tribes living in this cosmopolitan city.

Quiet a unique phenomenon as most of the people are able to communicate atleast 3 languages all together.

Nairobi features mixed race and religions. Biggest percentage of the population which is approximately 70% has the Christians, 15%%Muslims and 1.5% Hindu. Mixed races is as a result of the capital hosting headquarters of United Nations for this African region which has intern led to the increase in expatriate population who move in for business.

The city center also referred to as the central business district, is only covering 2kilometer square.This is strictly business with offices (public and private), stores, restaurants, banks and a few hotels and apartments within.All residential areas start stretching out as you leave the city center, some within walking distance, and most of them an hours driving distance using both public and private transport.

Main mode of transport is my road, commuter transport by rail and quiet a big percentage of the population living below poverty line walking on foot.Over one third of it's population live in slums .

Nairobi attained the city status from the British in 1950, thus architectural evidence from the colonizer is seen in most of the city buildings. Some of the buildings are being maintained as historical though modernization is seeing the city get a new modern face.

Business days are Monday to Friday and a few businesses open Saturday,s till noon. Sunday had quite morning,s with Christians worshiping.

Nairobi being a business hub, authorities have tried to make maintain a safe environment for the business community. General crime, like any other big city growing is more in the slums which experiences a dire unemployment state among-st the youth. Night movement for tourists is strictly restricted to use of taxis which are available from all the city hotels. Local restaurants for dinner and other night life activities for tourist entertainment are in abundance. 

There is lots of the city history portrayed at the Nairobi National Museum, the National Archives for documentary evidence, numerous cultural galleries displaying the traditional artifacts . Visitors on business can anytime get excursions to visit our animal orphanage,s and the Nairobi National Park which is found in the Southern part of the city. This park occupies 117square kilometers and is the reason Nairobi is referred to as the Wildlife Capital and is just 5kms from the city center.

 

Author:Tom.