It is not only the much waved Mattei Plan for Africa, nor the increasingly frequent and widespread diffusion of ‘Made in Italy’ in so many different forms and suggestions. Italy has predominantly returned among the preferred nations of Kenyans, both at an institutional level and in the collective imagination of a large part of the citizens. This is a fact that reveals itself in the numbers (the importation and appreciation of food and wine, for example, despite all the difficulties expressed even recently by insiders to our minister Adolfo Urso) and also on the many branches of social networks.
On the one hand, the never-ending influence of tourism: the exponential growth of Watamu as one of the top destinations not only of Kenya, but of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, is identified by many as a success due in large part also to the resourcefulness of Italians and their activities, as well as the arrival of many of our tourists; on the other hand, the affirmation of our brands and products that influence the choices of local consumers and also of activities that combine their proposals with a choice of ‘our things’. This phenomenon is especially noticeable in the capital city of Nairobi, where Italian names are increasingly widespread and there is a growing curiosity and interest in our culture and all that it represents in everyday life, especially as regards the pleasures of life.
Every day, venues or activities are popping up that evoke Italian names or situations: from construction, where new exclusive residences are called ‘Verona’ rather than ‘Giardino’, design signatures such as ‘Casa Bella’ and new restaurants that have no Italian owners or managers, yet boast signs that sound like they are in Brooklyn, if not Rome or Naples. Of course, the phenomenon of so-called ‘Italian Sounding’ can sometimes raise eyebrows, especially when words are mispronounced (the most recent case is a furniture shop called ‘Otrovato’, all stuck together and without an ‘h’), but it is symptomatic of how much our language has entered the vocabulary and common usage of Kenyans.
From this point of view, the work of the Italian embassy, which is always interested in promoting our excellence and our ‘modus operandi’ in Kenya, is doing its part, and even in our own small way, the promotional work on what is not only commercial, but also cultural and philosophical philosophy that draws from Italian tradition and art, is starting to pay off.
The recent return of image (feedback, the English-speakers would say) of the Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo (Italian Language Week in the World), with its aftermath of musical performances, was a confirmation of this: Kenyans love Italy.
More and more young artists, managers, local professionals are applying for tourist visas to visit our country, and certainly not as immigrants, to settle down. They simply want to get to know the land that many here point to as an example.
In a fortnight or so the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World will begin, another initiative that puts Italy in the spotlight in this country. There will be initiatives in Malindi, Watamu and Diani, as well as in the capital, including pure promotion, social, interaction, meetings, universities, social and more.
This is the time when every Italian in Kenya should feel the opportunity, but also the responsibility, to be a standard-bearer of our culture and all that can come out of it, and not just an opportunist who simply has a foreign passport and mind his own business, taking advantage of the situation.