Desert Bedouins

The first time I visited Dubai was in 2004. This was soon af- ter Mwai Kibaki took over as president of Kenya after the 24- year horrific reign of Daniel Toroitich arap Moi.

The occasion was a momentous one for the older Kenyans as it reminded them of the end of another ignominious reign: that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

She, interestingly, became queen at the Treetops Hotel in Nyeri in a place not far from Kibaki's home in Othaya and even closer to the home of the man who led the rebellion by most of the residents of Central Kenya to her oppressive regime: Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi Waciuri.

But, back to Dubai. In 2004, Dubai was a tiny little enclave of nomadic Bedouins with a Sheikh who was trying to craft together a trading city modelled, I suspect, after Singapore where an astute benevolent dictator called Lee Kwan Yu was trying something many in the West considered a crazy one- man dream: To craft a prosperous nation state out of a tiny appendage of the Malaysian peninsula. The fact that the Singapore project was beginning to look like it might work gave the Sheikh more ammunition to try out his own dream.

Unlike Mahathir Mohammed, he had a beautiful advantage: The country was part of an immense underground oilfield covering most of the Arab world and the neighbouring states. And the West, as well as the rest of the world, had an unquenchable thirst for that commodity called oil and, what was more, additional loads of surplus cash to invest. This meant that Dubai was becoming an interesting investment destination.

The Grand Vision

Presumably, the vision of the Sheikh was to do two things: One, to transform the lives of his mostly Bedouin country- men by giving them modern living standards comparable to any in the West. And two, to make the area around Dubai a modern business hub specialising in importing things from the rich sources - Japan, China, Korea and even Europe - and then making them easily available to the poorer nations in Africa, Asia and South America

It is an initiative that has worked extremely well for the country and in the process made a fortune for the originating countries. But the major beneficiary of all this was Dubai itself and the neighbouring partners of Sharjah, Deira, etc.. While I had seen on TV some of the developments occurring in those countries- iconic architectural towers, golf courses, airports and freeways - it is impossible to describe in a few words the absolutely total transformation that has occurred in the short space of 13 years which I saw when I visited the place in September 2017.

Even the hot desert has been transformed into an incredible tourist destination showcasing dune driving, dinner in the desert under the clear Arabian sky and a traditional dance by a scantily clad Arabic maiden, a sharp contrast to the black bui- bui clad ladies in the towns.

But perhaps the most amazing transformation is the number of new shopping malls, skyscrapers on tiny half-acre plots and the general sense of affluence and orderliness in the place. You hardly notice any policemen around although, to the serious observer, there are the innocuous looking cameras, traffic lights and self-policing by the residents.

The workers in the country are from many countries of the world but mostly Asia and a few Africans. They are paid reasonably well if what I was able to pick from the few I talked to is anything to go by.

In short, in thirteen short years, Dubai has become a first world country.

And Now to Kenya

In contrast, the Nairobi and, indeed, the Kenya I knew in 2003 has not had such a dramatic change although, compared to the previous 24 years, things have changed although innocuously. Like the modern transformational Thika-Nairobi Superhighway that we tend to take for granted. A stretch of 42 kilometers of a world class dual carriage freeway, it has had a remarkable change to people living on either side of the highway.

There are also many other smaller highways that have slowly come up around Nairobi - the bypasses - and indeed other parts of the country.

But the major transformation for Nairobi has been the migration of CBD to the Upper Hill area which is now dominated by soaring first-world skyscrapers. More subtle has been the upward crawl of the Westlands area that has even caught the attention of the Chinese.

But, in comparison to the transformation of Dubai, we are still miles behind. However, with the SGR being built by the Chinese maybe, just maybe, we shall wake up to the possibilities surrounding us instead of the incessant politicking that we seem to love so much.

As we start the year 2020, something tells me that Nairobi will never be the same again. I am sitting on the 7th floor of a new building near the Aga Khan Hospital called Doctors Plaza. It is a special facility for specialists - close to major hospitals but independent of them.

As I sit here, I can see the evolving skyline of Nairobi. Sky- lines only change forwards never backwards. It says one clear thing: This town has new owners. And they are not looking back. Whether we like it or not.

So, if you want to own a piece of Nairobi, do it now or forever hold your peace. “Time and tide waiteth for no man”, someone once wrote. Not then, not now.

One thing that is different between Dubai and Nairobi: I was told that the Sheikh of Dubai wanted to change the Bedouin mentality of the people residing in the area. When he realised how difficult it was going to be, he decided to use a different developmental model by engaging his people through donations of small plots of land and funding construction at very low cost.

Nairobi, on the other hand, seems to be taking a free-for-all approach - pure capitalism. Meaning that only the financially most aggressive will succeed. With the kind of government we have in the county, I just wonder whether we shall ever get a Dubai-like city. But there is a proverb in my language that says: “Ndiakagwo ta ya wakini” - you never build your house to be like that of your neighbour because, truth be told, no two minds can think alike.

Let us compare Dubai and Nairobi in another 13 years and see what will have happened.

That is in 2033.

Related Stories