Back in the day and even now, Kenya was marketed the world over as the acclaimed land of many contrasts.
The diversity of her flora and fauna, cultures, geographical features, and heritage is as beguiling as they are intriguing.
It was, and still is, one of the few countries whose mountain summit – Mount Kenya – on the equator is capped with snow.
Kenya boasts of fertile highlands, an expansive Rift Valley, grasslands, plains and palm-bedecked beaches. She hosts the world’s largest permanent desert lake in Lake Turkana.
Besides, exceptional wildlife such as the big five roam wildly over our land, affirming its place as a place to be. We have rare sights to behold, such as the spectacular wildebeest migration.
I will not say anything about the greatest marathoners the world has ever produced.
Suffice to say that athletic talent is as plentiful as gold was in ancient Egypt.
Our value proposition to the world has customarily harped on these unique elements, attracting us much-needed foreign exchange through tourism and trade.
While these selling points remain relevant to date, recent world developments have added other feathers to our cap.
In a fast-changing world of ageing populations in the north, youth bulge in the south and rapid technological changes between them, new realities are unfolding right in our faces.
On one hand, Kenya and much of Africa must grow her economy as fast and as broad enough as to accommodate the bulge.
On the other hand, Europe must work the means to bridge the gaping human capital hole or risk degeneration.
Running concurrently with these developments is the phenomenon of machine take-over. The utility of man as we knew it is increasingly being assailed, even replaced by machine.
Man is losing out to his own devices in the office, kitchen, farm and the bedroom.
The value of the human touch is becoming priceless.
In the scheme of things, Kenya has a lot to offer to the world. Her biggest asset yet, quite apart from the contrasts described, is undoubtedly the human capital.
With an enviable demographic dividend, complemented by favourable climate, fairly stable democratic culture and most important of all the incredibly warm, agile people, Kenya is unassailable in the race about to begin.
In my travels and interactions world over, I am yet to meet as enchanting people as Kenyans. They are naturally affable, relatable and more often than not sanctified with a regular sense of humour.
Kenyans are innovative, aggressive, unrelenting and spirited. They are outgoing, possess a workable degree of global outlook and express themselves well.
There are a few things holding Kenya back against conquering the world.
While Kenya is a regional beacon of peace, perceptions of instability and fragile peace still abound out there. We are viewed in the lenses of our troubled neighbours.
It does not help that every general election comes with it a fair degree of tension, bouts and pockets of violence.
Yet with the chaos and confusion surrounding us, we can easily leap forward by strengthening our democratic culture and offering requisite political guarantees to the world.
We must take urgent steps to enhance the quality of our education with view to producing internationally competitive graduates. Our education sector is struggling at the moment with recurring strikes and infrastructural challenges.
In tandem with straightening this, we must make deliberate, strategic and conscious efforts to secure the health of our priceless human capital. A common, eerily true joke is that the proximity of a middle-class Kenyan and absolute poverty, is hospitalisation.
So many Kenyans are dying for either inability to afford healthcare or failure to access quality care. It is a shame!
Finally, in a world where visuals matter more than actual content, we must take steps to change the framing of our marketing narrative.
The era of marketing our country by its flora and fauna is long gone. We must now begin to look beyond these and focus on novel concepts, which can appeal to the present realities.
The enduring spirit of the
Kenyan soul to innovate, explore, relate and empathise with others should be
packaged, marketed and value extracted off it.
