By Mohamed Dubo Mohamed
Tuesday, February 14, 2007
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Nairobi Kenya (HOL)-Walking along Eastleigh’s First and Second Avenues, one would not help noticing that the area not only appears more foreign than local but it is also increasingly becoming a major business center. The area is lined up with huge business complexes with thousands of traders selling both exotic and local items. It is also hard to miss the fact that Somalis, mostly refugees, but also some Kenyans, own most of the big businesses, especially those selling exotic items. There are also Ethiopians who are increasingly attempting to establish themselves as traders in Eastleigh. Although there are indigenous Kenyan business people from the Kikuyu, the Kamba, Meru and other communities, they seem to be increasingly getting overshadowed by the Somalis who do not only own big business complexes and all class of hotels but also houses
Eastleigh is now a city within a city, thanks to the influx of Somalis and others interested in the area’s expanding economy," an area resident who has seen the estate grow from the 1960s, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Hussein, told HOL.
Influx of Somalis led to expansion of the area
One could be tempted to call Eastleigh’s economy a "refugee economy," but most Somalis interviewed will tell you that there are also Kenyan Somalis, some of them who got citizenship when they first settled in the area in the 1970s and 1980s while running away from Siad Barre’s dictatorship. Some of them had been close to Siad Barre but had lost favor with him, while some were among those who had began the war to oust the President, while establishing base in Kenya. From then on, Somalis began trickling into the area until the overthrow of Siad Barre and ensuing civil war that saw Somali warlords taking over enclaves all over Somalia, especially the capital Mogadishu.
That is the period when there was now a "flooding" of Somalis, some of who managed to get Kenyan citizenship.
The Somalis influx into Eastleigh, which originally comprised sections One, Two, Three and Seven, saw not only the expansion of the area, where residential houses are concerned but the turning of certain sections, especially section One and Two, into huge commercial centers. For locals, they had to pay the price where accommodation was concerned because the house rents went up in some areas by between 20 and 50 per cent from around 1990. That was because some of the Somalis came in with a lot of US dollars and they could pay house rents in a lump sum for a whole year. Landlords automatically preferred the Somali tenants.
Established business network
Those without the money would live two to three families in the same house, while looking for an opening for business in the area. Few Somalis in the area are Somalis from Kenya’s North Eastern Province. Ahmed and Hussein Addow Mohamed, a Kenyan Somali whose family is putting up one of the new huge multi-sectioned storey buildings along First Avenue, say the advantage of Somalis was that they came in with a lot capital which helped them buy houses and establish businesses fast.
Another advantage is that they came to Eastleigh with an established business network that quickly replaced some Indian enterprises. The difference between Asian and Somali business people, argues Abdow is that Somalis sell their goods cheaper. "An item that would have gone for, say, Sh15, 000 can go for as little as between Sh6, 000 to Sh10, 000," Addow says.
The business networks stretch from Dubai and other areas of the Middle East, Asia, Europe and East and Central Africa region. Relatives or agents especially in Dubai, where goods from other countries converge for export, buy the goods and import them into the country mostly through the port of Mombassa. "Somalis seem to be smarter in business. They import goods that Kenyans buy," Addow says.
Somali-owned businesses concentrated in one place
He says that Eastleigh is attracting customers from as far as Rwanda as Somali businessmen import a variety of goods from as far as Brazil, Thailand and China.
"Dubai is the meeting point," he says but adds that area business people also sell products made in Kenya, such as Nice and Lovely beauty products. There are all kinds of businesses and items being sold in the area, from perfumes, clothes, medicines, food, electronic goods to furniture, mostly imported.
In Eastleigh, you could buy some items as cheap as Sh10 (for smaller items) to as much as Sh200, 000 and more (mostly exotic beds and sofa sets). Serious Somalis businesses could be more than 5,000 in a population estimated to be about 100,000. The reason why Somali-owned businesses are concentrated in one place, according to Abukar is for security reasons and because they expect members of the community to be their customers.
In fact, Somali businesses prefer employing fellow Somalis as Ethiopians also prefer employing their country people. The same is the case with Kenyan tribes also, so it is not a unique aspect. "Proximity to the community is important. It saves time and money to travel, lets say to the Nairobi city center," Abukar argues.
No organization to bond the business community
The proximity of the Somali businesses, Abukar further argues, gives the community a sense of security. "If your immediate neighbours are brothers they can alert one another if there is any suspicious character around," Abukar says.
But Abukar’s complaint is that there is no organization to bond the Somali business community. "We are not organized. We are freelance as there is no central mechanism to ensure harmony, especially in conducting our businesses," he claims.
Abukar says that is a disadvantage that has led to what he calls "price wars" between the businesses. He gave an example of the famous Garissa Lodge, which is no longer a lodge but huge business complex where a number of traders sell similar items next to one another. "One business may sell the same items sold in the next shop at a lower price in order to attract customers and beat the neighbor. In the end all become losers," Abukar argues.
Still on business rivalry, Addow argues that there seems to be a concerted effort between small kiosks owners and the local authorities to frustrate business people in the big business complexes. "The kiosks across sell similar items that the well-established shops in permanent buildings sell. There is a cartel that collects Sh6, 000 every month from some small kiosks owners for protection," Addow alleges.
Lack of police presence in the area
There once existed an active organization, the Eastleigh District Business Community, which used to ensure unity among the Somali traders and also security, but many claim that it is as good as dead. "It is dead. About 95 per cent of businesses pulled out as they were not satisfied with it," Ahmed alleges.
There is also the issue of insecurity with some businessmen arguing that Eastleigh is one of the most insecure areas of Nairobi, thus the need for business people to stick together. There is no police presence in the entire area save for a few Administration Police officers at an AP camp at the area chief’s office and two police officers stationed at the local Kenya Commercial Bank.
"The nearest police station is at Pangani. There isn’t even a single police post in the entire Eastleigh area," Addow says. Lack of working streetlights in most areas adds to the problem of insecurity.
Mohamed Dubo Mohamed is a new reporter for Hiiraan Online based in Nairobi
Source: HOL, Feb 15, 2007