Sometimes Kenyans tend to be pessimists who only like to see a half empty glass and not a half full glass. They complain about their lot and just about everything else. The vitriol, angst, swearing words and curses of desperation that fill the print media and blogosphere leave no doubt about our national character as perpetual whiners and pessimists.

Yet there is always surprising news coming from different quarters about our nation and where we are headed. A research  report by  Frontier Strategy Group released early this year indicated that, Africa will have 73 cities with a population of 1-5 million people by 2025.Of these, there will be the ‘big five’ cities  which are widely known and significant recipients of FDI. They inclued: Accra, Ghana; Johanesburg South Africa; Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; and surprises, Nairobi, Kenya!

Then, there is another list of five large cities with rapidly expanding economies, but which save for some risks, can offer investors handsome returns on investment. These are: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Ibadan, Nigeria; Kinshasa, Congo-DRC; and another surprise, Mombasa, Kenya!

It  is only in this year that Kenya announced its first oil find in the Northern part of the country, and since the  initial good news, other news of  promising oil, and gas finds have been coming fast and furious. The scope of infrastructure being undertaken across the country with the prize being the brand new Lamu port under The Lamu port and Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor(LAPSSET) comprising, pipeline, railways and highways to Ethiopia and south Sudan herald a future of  national prosperity.

On the pipeline too is the Konza City, an exclusive ICT city to be built in Kitui and is billed to be the first Africa’s Silicon Savanna City, competing technologically-wise with the best cities in the world. Despite the obvious criticisms about the proposed ICT city especially from the Western pundits, the whole project at least makes for a great dream. Critics say that the concept of starting an ICT city in the middle of a vast Savanna is flawed as it is not focusing on developing the necessary skill set among the people, but is focusing on structures.

If it succeeds, the Konza ICT city project will affirm Kenya’s emerging brand identity as the premier technology hub in the region. While other countries in the region were still in excitement over the proliferation of mobile telephony users, Kenya seized the opportunity to add value to the new technology with creation of different apps and the pioneer mobile money solutions. Over the last few years, the country is a success story in terms of ability to harness mobile telephony technology to come up with applications that offer solutions to local problems.

In July this year, a research by MasterCard on global cities ranked Nairobi as the 4th most visited city in Africa only rivaled by Cairo, Johannesburg and Casablanca in that order. In the wider Middle East and Africa region, Nairobi ranked 8th which effectively speaks volumes about our fast rising stature in the continent and the world. And the benefits to accrue from the 1.8 million visitors to Nairobi in 2013, will inject a whopping $1.3 billion into the national economy.

Perhaps what is giving imprimatur to Kenya as a country headed in the right direction is the arrival of global brands in Nairobi to set up their African region headquarters. These include:IBM,the American computer giant,Airtel,the  Indian telephone giant,Google,the American computing giant, General Electric, and major international organizations such as Oxfam, Action aid, And  the UN.

An article appearing on reuters.com in October by columnist Chrystia Freeland quotes Stephen Jennings, the CEO of the leading emerging markets investment firm, Renaissance Group citing Kenya as part of the success stories in development. Comparing the time taken to half infant mortality between Kenya and India, Jennings notes that it has taken Kenya only five years to half infant mortality, something it took India twenty five years to accomplish!

On the governance front, Kenyans probably have much to be optimistic for. The brand new constitution promulgated on 27th August, 2010 fundamentally changed the governance structure of the country. If not bungled in the implementation process, Kenyans can rest assured they have the freedom to pursue their individual Kenyan dreams in a country offering equal opportunities to all.  

By  Anthony Ngatia.