After hours of waiting at Doha airport, where time slows and every announcement feels heavier than the last, I was eager to finally board my Qatar Airways flight. Just as I thought the journey was about to begin, the pilot’s voice filled the cabin: engineers were on their way to attend to a mechanical issue of the engine. For a moment, will it be my last flight ever?
Airports and aeroplanes are curious places. They remind us how little control we have, yet how much anticipation shapes our mood. As I sat in stillness, I wondered: what awaited me in Nairobi?
Arrival in the Heart of Kenya
When I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, it took nearly an hour for my luggage to appear. Yet even that wait could not dampen the joy of stepping out into Nairobi, the bustling heart of Kenya, a city that greets you with energy rather than indifference.
This was not just another trip. I had come as part of a group led by Dr. Howard Morgan, a man whose reputation precedes him. Once a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, Howard became a pioneer of the early internet and now chairs B Capital. He is not easily swayed by fantasy or flattery, his lens is numbers, data, and cold reality. His sharp and direct challenges could unsettle even a stronger mind. His presence carries weight, but there is a deeply human side to him too
I once asked him why he supports the New York Public Library. His reply was simple: “When I was a kid, the library was my place of learning. It needs to be preserved.” That sentence revealed something deep inside of me to my childhood, where I spent time in between the cricket field and multiple libraries. Behind every human being, there is a story. Behind every nation, there are millions of stories untold. Statistics do not tell us everything but listening to others untold stories could reveal hope, fear and jealousy.
The Defining Moment
The defining moment of my Nairobi visit was not in searching for investment opportunities in an AI-driven world. It was not in a boardroom, nor in a meeting with policymakers. It came through a conversation shaped not by balance sheets, but by human conviction.
My friend, Louis Curran, once with JP Morgan, Citi, and Merrill Lynch, spent hours with a fiery young lawyer, only 31 years old. Brilliant, angry, impatient. She carried the spark of revolution in her eyes and her tone could make you deaf. The kind of fire that could ignite streets and topple governments from top of a makeshift stage without a loudspeaker or a microphone. Yet Louis and I urged her to redirect that fire. To use her talents not to instigate unrest, but to support the vulnerable.
She listened.
And in her listening, I saw the harsh realities of building nations. Revolutions spark beautiful flames but often leave ashes. Real change, meaningful change, lasting change, requires channeling fear and jealousy into service, and passion into building bridges not burning them. It was at that moment, Nairobi’s story became clear to me: this is a country blessed with millions of possibilities, its future depending on clarity, transparency, authenticity and more importantly execution.
Shoes on the Nairobi Streets
Over the days, I walked for miles across Nairobi, and when my feet tired, Uber drivers became my companions. They offered stories, laughter, and insights into daily struggles. Inside the Uber, I remembered Howard was the first investor of Uber to revolutionise modem transportation in the world. I am still curious about one small habit: most cars drive with windows half-open, even when air conditioning is available. Perhaps, that is a mystery I will solve on my next visit.
But what truly stayed with me were the people. Street vendors, taxi drivers, shopkeepers, students, all striving to survive, all carrying hope. Their smiles were bright, but their eyes carried burdens. Conversations often circled back to the same themes: the rising cost of living, the fight for opportunity, fighting corruption, fighting for equal space and the quiet resilience that keeps them moving forward.
Numbers bear this out. Kenya’s official statistics show that 39.8% of its people live below the poverty line. Almost four in ten Kenyans are struggling to secure the basics of life. Behind that single number are millions of households forced into impossible choices. When you are forced into impossible choices, people even reluctantly could sell their souls even below the price of Judas Iscariot.
The Kenyan Economy at a Glance
Kenya is a nation of 53 million people, 23.5 million men and 24 million women. There are about 12 million households, with an average size of 3.9 people. With a population density of 82 people per square kilometer, Kenya is alive, crowded in certain places, and restless. The popular Carnivore restaurant is filled with meat and happiness, but a few metres away people were fighting for a soup that could make them alive for the next day.
Yet, the economy is rebounding. The GDP grew by 5% in 2024, a hopeful sign in a region often tangled in volatility. The money drivers are diverse as its landscape : tea, horticulture, and coffee exports remain the core foundation of the economy, complemented by foreign direct investment, inward remittances thanks to the brain drain and a booming tourism sector.
Tourism is one of the country’s brightest stories. In 2024, Kenya welcomed over 2.4 Million visitors, a remarkable growth over post the pandemic. From safaris that draw travelers into the Maasai Mara, to coastlines kissed by the magnificent Indian Ocean, Kenya’s tourism potential is nothing short of a miracle. The unanimous verdict within the group was that digital platforms and new technology led by artificial intelligence coupled with low altitude economy solutions developed by our friends and partners could amplify this even further, connecting global travelers with Kenya’s cultural and natural wealth.
But trade patterns also reveal constraints. Exports are largely directed toward COMESA and other African countries, followed by Asia and the European Union. Performance with the Americas remains modest. For Kenya to fully realise its economic promise, expanding beyond traditional markets will be critical.
Beyond Numbers, The Balance Sheet of Hearts
And yet, statistics, however precise, cannot capture the whole truth. Numbers are important but hearts should not stop.The heart factor tells us about the emotions that drive a nation. Hope, fear, and jealousy that pumps hearts are not measured by the Central Bank or the Kenya Bureau of Statistics or the reports of the World Bank.
But they are real. They are what shape nations.
I often think of these three forces, hope, fear, and jealousy, as universal currencies. Whether in New York, Nairobi, Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo, Delhi, Dubai, Lagos or Colombo, they move people, sometimes more than money ever could. Notes, coins, digital currencies fade but hope, fear and jealousy stays with different colours and shapes. We have seen it play out in recent years: Gen Z protests have toppled governments, reshaped political orders, and forced leaders to confront realities they had long ignored.
The fall of governments in Nepal and Madagascar and many other collapses in the past decade is not just about weak economics, it is about leadership failing to see the pulse of their people. Kenya, too, is not immune. For policymakers, investors, and the “masters of the universe,” this is the lesson: look out for numbers but understand the bleeding hearts of the people.
A Journey to Mariapolis Piero
Just hours before my flight back home, I accepted an invitation to visit the Focolare Movement’s model village in Mariapolis Piero, about 50 minutes drive outside Nairobi.
I was joined by Victor Gaeton, a prolific and measured writer, a man of many words when he starts talking and more importantly a man of higher calling to serve. Together we spent time with the quiet Samaritans of the Focolare Movement, people who give without expecting anything in return. Their generosity is not loud, but it is enduring. They are the silent flag bearers of Chiara Lubich, who founded the movement in 1943 with a vision of building a united world when the skies were flooded with aeroplanes carrying bombs to destroy people who she sheltered.
Mariapolis Piero is not an economic indicator. It will never appear in a World Bank report. But it represents something deeper, the power of community, love, compassion and selflessness. In a world dominated by numbers, here was a space where human connection was the only membership fee.
Building the Right Bridges
Kenya’s story is not just about roads, railways, and bridges made of steel and stone. It is about building bridges of understanding, between leaders and citizens, between numbers and lived realities, between economics and dignity.
Because economics, at its core, is not about percentages. It is about people. It is about ensuring that growth is not confined to spreadsheets but felt in households, in markets, and in the laughter of children who no longer go to bed hungry. The children who will have a bulb on the roof to light up their books, so they could light up the lives of thousands when they are nourished with wisdom.
The beautiful streets of Nairobi reminded me of this truth. Statistics guide us, but stories reveal us. If we want to truly understand Kenya or any nation we must listen to its people, not just its numbers.
Africa is calling
Nairobi is more than an entry point into East Africa. It is a test case for how growth stories in emerging markets succeed or unravel. On paper, Kenya is attractive: a growing middle class, 5% GDP growth, a diversified economy, and a digital-savvy youth population. Yet beneath those numbers lies fragility, nearly 40% living in poverty, political volatility shaped by generational frustration, and a society where informal networks still carry more weight than formal institutions’ shoulders.
Capital that ignores this human dimension risks being blindsided. But the capital that listens to the young lawyer redirecting her anger toward building, to the taxi driver hustling for his family, to the communities at Mariapolis Piero will find more than just returns. It will find resilience, adaptability, and a country that wants to rise on its own terms.
Nairobi’s streets are not just beautiful. They are instructive. For those who trade in numbers, the lesson is clear: in Kenya, as in so many parts of the world, the real story begins where the statistics end.
Saliya Weerakoon
Saliya Weerakoon is an executive, entrepreneur, columnist, and public speaker with 30 years of experience in Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern markets. Saliya is a fellow at econVue. He lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka and…