When each country is mentioned, a certain image or train of thought quickly comes to mind. If you think about the US, New York’s statue of Liberty, Hollywood and a slew of other institutions and personalities quickly come to mind. When one talks about China, the Great Wall of China, Mao Zedong as well as Confucius easily comes to mind. France has the Eiffel tower, and the romance of Paris. For our neighbors Tanzania, what easily comes to mind is “Undugu” ,”Ujamaa” ,”Uswahili” and Mwalimu Nyerere. South Africa of course has the saintly Mandela while Nigeria has the braggado men and uniquely dressed men and women. England has the royal monarchy while Egypt has the world famous Egyptian Pyramids. India has Mahtma Gandhi as its symbol.
So whereas different countries have different symbols and personalities that define them, in Kenya, it is hard to think of anyone symbol that transcends tribe, gender and economic divisions. Even as brand Kenya attempts to define a unique brand for the country, a symbol of pride really needs to be identified. There are a number of areas that brand secretariat may look at; such as KICC, the world beating Kenyan athletes, the Maasai Mara and the likes. Otherwise, all the effort in paying lobbies in Washington to market Kenya’s image abroad may prove futile.
Without any binding Kenyan identity, it becomes easy to tramp it. How many times have you heard of a Kenyan, on the brink of being deported, suddenly swears that they are Jamaican. Equally, for the youth, the brand Kenya does not mean anything as long as they find that they have no stake in the country. For instance, in a survey done by the BBC in 2006, about 81% of Nairobi youth indicated that they were willing to immigrate to another country if there was an opportunity. This rate, alongside New Delhi in India, was the highest in the world.
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