Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Uh, it's, by the way, it's, it's c- it's like I, I always wonder, like, you know, when you go through, um...

Personally, I'm still maintaining that JK- JKIA is one of the best airports in Africa.

In Africa, yeah.

Mm.

You'll be impressed.

Y- you'll be like, "Okay, we have, we have a good thing going." I just think at the end of the day, we- we're damned if we do, damned if we don't.

Because does JKIA need massive investment and to be brought up to a truly world-class airport?

Mm-hmm.

[upbeat music] Carla Subirana is a news editor.

Earlier this year in Nairobi Airport, the police discovered more than 2,000 queen ants hidden in a man's luggage, and they were all packed into individual tiny plastic tubes that were plugged with damp cotton.

They were designed to keep the ants alive for weeks until they made it to China, which was their final destination.

Cases like this are becoming more and more common in Kenya.

Kenyan President William Ruto's recent public announcement ordering Tata Chemicals to leave its Lake Magadi soda ash operation has raised a larger question in India.

Why are two major Indian companies, earlier Adani and now Tata, finding themselves on the wrong side of Ruto's government? Back in 2024, Ruto canceled the proposed Adani Group concession for upgrading the operating Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

So is Kenya turning against India? And if Tata is being pushed out now, who does Ruto want to bring in? The short answer is that there is no evidence yet of a deliberate Kenyan policy to replace Indian companies with companies from another country.

But there is increasing evidence of a more assertive Kenyan economic nationalism in which foreign investors are expected to deliver much greater local value, employment, and industrialization.

To briefly round out the continental picture with some other highly localized events causing wide scale friction.

In Kenya, a nationwide strike by aviation workers over leasing agreements completely shut down the main international airport, JKIA, stranding passengers globally.

Another example of localized disruption.

And in southern Africa, Zambia's president, Hakinde Hichilema, was successfully reelected and sworn in, navigating intense local political tensions following the detention of his main opponent.

Kenya Airways is East Africa's flag carrier.

It operates out of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a facility that sits at an elevation of 5,327 feet above sea level.

Density altitude at that field is a real operational consideration, particularly in the hot months.

It is a modern airport, capable of handling the wide-body long-haul traffic a major international hub demands, and it serves as the primary gateway connecting East and Central Africa to the rest of the world.

The conditions for building a genuinely strong African carrier exist.

They have been demonstrated.

For those of you flying internationally or operating commercially with connections through East Africa, Jomo Kenyatta remains a significant hub.

Kenya Airways is the dominant carrier in that system.

According to preliminary results, 70% of votes approved of the new constitution, which expands presidential power and changes electoral rules.

In Kenya, there were large queues at Nairobi airport yesterday as passengers attempted to board flights after strikes were suspended.

The Aviation Workers Union said that workers were trying to clear a backlog of flights.

Asia.