‘Hustler’ foreigners loving life in fast-paced Nairobi Eastlands

Nairobi Eastlands areas of Pipeline, Umoja, Tena, Donholm, Dandora, Kayole, Makadara, Jericho are fast becoming popular with foreigners from neighbouring African countries.

These are not foreigners you are likely bump into walking their expensive dogs in Karen, Westlands, Hurlingham, Lavington, Runda, Kileleshwa, Kitisuru and Muthaiga.

According to residents, a wide range of job opportunities in the informal sector is attracting many ‘hustler foreigners’ to this part of the capital, where life can be fast and ruthless even to locals.

Most of the locals are from neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and other neighbouring countries.

Janes Mugisha who came to Nairobi from Rwanda in 2017 – says that there are many opportunities in Nairobi for foreigners like himself.

Mugisha told Wananchi Reporting that Nairobi is rife with opportunities – and that many of them come to Kenya to look for work. 

Many of them work in Nairobi as tailors, shop attendants, teachers of French, spar and barbershop attendants, in butcheries, hotels and restaurants, as watchmen, water vendors, hawkers, bartenders, taxi drivers, masons, plumbers and drivers.

“All you need to do to survive in Nairobi is work and work some more,” he says.

“Most of us do not choose jobs here since it is not easy to land a formal office work in Kenya because of our different status,” said Mugisha.

According to Mugisha, Kenyans are generally very friendly people, and everyone tends to mind their own business.

Residents say that many foreigners have acclimatized to the fast paced life in Nairobi – and have learned to survive.

They know how to move around.

Some of the estates that have welcomed these guests include Umoja, Komarock, Dandora, Pipeline, Kayole, Nyamavilla, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Utawala,

“My next-door neighbour is a foreigner. Our children attend the same schools and even play together. They have become part of us in the estates,” Says Monica Ngare who lives in Komarock estate in Embakasi Central.

In one of the estates in Embakasi Central, for instance – there are a number of churches that serve the foreigners – with most of the worship done in their local dialect.

“It’s a way to connect with our people through worship. God has been gracious to us since many of us came to Kenya as refugees. Although some are just people looking for fresh opportunities away from home,” says Mugisha.

Still, it has never been all smooth sailing for most of them here in Nairobi.

“Life in Nairobi is very expensive. Prices of commodities like cereals, milk, cooking oil and bread are very high in the shops.”

“That means that you make money, but also spend most of it trying to live,” says Mugisha.

Other challenges include them having to learn Kiswahili, some little sheng and English so as to fit easily.