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Report
Afro-Americans form new frontiers in Kenya
DW (English)
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1/27/2025
Kenya is becoming a hub for Afro-Americans seeking a fresh start. We explore the lives of diaspora returnees finding new roots in Kenya along with the opportunities, and challenges, they encounter along the way.
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00:00
We're at one of Nairobi's busiest intersections, Tubman Road,
00:03
named after one of the most famous Black Americans in history.
00:06
From street signs to matatus,
00:08
there are images of Black Americans like me all over Kenya.
00:11
But despite our cultural presence,
00:12
few people seem to know about who we are and where we come from.
00:15
What do you know about Black Americans?
00:17
Black Americans?
00:18
Yeah.
00:19
The most thing we get about Black Americans is that they are violent
00:25
and oppressed, maybe.
00:28
After telling him that I was African American,
00:30
he seemed to change his opinion.
00:32
They are more progressive and they are more informed than us.
00:34
Them coming here would be another advantage for us, I'd say that.
00:38
The mixed messaging made me eager to know more.
00:40
Are Black people from the Americas like me truly welcome here?
00:44
Do Kenyans know we exist outside of pictures?
00:47
To explore these questions, I met with Vanessa.
00:50
She arrived in Nairobi a few months ago with Noah, her four-year-old son.
00:55
After traveling the world together,
00:57
they're now adjusting to life in their luxury apartment.
01:00
I cry a lot, if I'm honest with you.
01:02
I miss my community, but also I know it's going to take time to adapt
01:06
and to build my new community, but I know it's going to happen eventually.
01:10
Back in Canada, where she grew up, Vanessa ran a successful business
01:14
and was, by all appearances, living the dream.
01:17
But she says that dream had limits.
01:19
I was just drained.
01:20
And when you're drained and you need to go back and take care of your kid
01:23
and cook and clean on top of that,
01:25
it's too much for the average mom to do that.
01:27
Her daily schedule now includes homeschooling Noah.
01:30
After, she leaves him with her nanny,
01:33
which frees up her time to work on her travel relocation business
01:36
and create content with her videographer, Hans.
01:40
I never thought I'd meet a Black person here in Kenya,
01:43
a foreigner here in Kenya, and make me see the world in a different way.
01:48
There are more people like Vanessa and I coming to Kenya.
01:51
That's according to Kia Wakesho,
01:53
who runs an African-American relocation business.
01:56
She offers a fresh start for those who are able to afford it.
02:01
We've gotten a lot of retirees and people who own businesses in the States
02:07
and have sold their businesses, and so they're living off their residual income.
02:11
Kia's services start at 14,500 euros,
02:14
nearly a quarter of what the average American takes home yearly.
02:18
The wealth is in the difference.
02:21
And so, when we're bringing people to Kenya,
02:24
we're educating them, we're integrating them versus repatriating,
02:28
because you're not repatriating to Kenya, you're not Kenyan, you're American.
02:33
Kia's employee, Terry, addresses the concerns that many local young people have
02:37
about the impact of these newcomers on jobs and opportunities.
02:41
Many of the youths in Kenya don't have work at the moment.
02:45
You might feel that when the African-Americans are coming here,
02:49
they're going to take your job.
02:50
But currently, most people are like,
02:52
just come if you're in a position maybe to do an investment,
02:55
get some Kenyans to work for you.
02:57
Kia's company is optimistic about fostering deeper connections.
03:01
To accommodate this, they are hoping to build a 100-unit real estate development
03:04
for African-American families in Kalimantanbogo,
03:07
located a two-hour drive from Nairobi.
03:10
This would not be the first time that Black people from the Americas
03:12
have relocated to Africa.
03:14
In the 1800s, an organization called the American Colonization Society
03:18
moved 16,000 free African-Americans to Liberia.
03:22
This gave way to an Americo-Liberian elite
03:25
that at times had bad relationships with Native inhabitants.
03:29
Now the vision is different.
03:30
It's about collaboration and connection.
03:33
If done right, it could be a whole new chapter
03:36
for the diaspora's return to Africa.
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