What we can do to build Brand Kenya

The progress of nations is normally rated against certain universal economic indicators. The more vibrant or solid a nation’s economy is, the more progressive it is considered to be. With such emphasis on economic progress, many other equally crucial indicators of the pulse of nations are accorded casual attention or forgotten altogether. Here, I have in mind the ‘personality’ of a nation, and in particular, that of Kenya.

Quite often, you come across a foreigner describing Kenyans as warm and friendly. We know of foreigners who have worked in Kenya and found an excuse to stay on. The favourable weather aside, the general good-naturedness of Kenyans is a strong attribute of Brand Kenya and the contents of her ‘soul’. And talking of nations and souls, there is a school of thought whose prominence is on the rise that compares statecraft and what is increasingly being referred to as ‘soulcraft’.