Jobs that can easily be done by Kenyans are now being taken up by foreigners, especially from Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania.
It is not strange to walk into a barber shop where a Burundian national is waiting to give you a haircut and once done with the shave, a Ugandan barmaid is at your disposal at the local pub frequented by Tanzanian hawkers displaying their wares.
Gone are the days when such services and jobs were a preserve of Kenyans. In Nairobi, most barber shops are being operated by Burundian nationals who have also ventured into the carwash business as well as offering transport services in the chaotic boda boda sub-sector.
Hospitable, warm, and welcoming Ugandan women serve in bars in urban areas where they are also hired as house helps.
Our enterprising neighbours from Tanzania have curved a niche in small-scale trade where they either run kiosks or hawk wares. They also dabble in security by offering guarding services in homes, institutions, and commercial premises while the naughty ones have gone a notch higher and operate begging cartels.
Welcome to Kenya, where many foreigners are taking advantage of the country's economy to set up businesses and offer services at lower fees. Barbershops, transport, wholesale, retailing, wholesale, craftsmanship, salons, and spas are some of the ventures preferred by foreigners.
Others include hawking tea, coffee, groundnuts, phone covers, groundnuts, and dealing in second-hand clothes.
Healthy competition
Johana Bachitoye who owns a salon and spa in Donholm says competition is healthy as it enables consumers to access quality goods and services at affordable charges.
''Traders must strive to be more creative and compete with others fairly. I offer quality service to my customers at affordable rates,'' says the man from Rwanda, summing up growing outcry against foreigners with open protests directed at Chinese traders.
A few days ago, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria kicked off a storm when he fingered out a Chinese trader for allegedly engaging in unfair business practices. According to Kuria, Lei Cheng, the owner of China Square Mall along Thika Superhighway, should be engaged in manufacturing and not a retail business.
''I have today offered Kenyatta University to buy out the lease for China Square, Unicity Mall, and hand it over to the Gikomba, Nyamakima, Muthurwa, and Eastleigh Traders Association traders. We welcomed Chinese investors to Kenya and manufacturers, not traders,'' tweeted Kuria.
What followed was the closure of the mall and the launch of an investigation against Cheng's business as hundreds of traders from Kamkunji, Nyamakima, and Muthurwa poured into the Central Business District (CBD) to protest against Chinese traders for selling their goods at the extremely low process.
"I'm here to protest against Chinese traders' invasion. The foreigners are playing the manufacturer and seller's roles, which shouldn't be the case. In Kenya, they are the distributors and retailers. They've locked us out of business," said Peter Macharia who runs an electronic shop at Nyamakima.
The exact number of foreigners doing business in Kenya is not clear since some of them enter the country illegally before acquiring permits and licenses through the back door.
During a recent meeting with members of the Kenya Editors' Guild, Immigration and Citizens Principal Secretary (PS) Ambassador Julius Bitok hinted that the government is in the process of setting up data banks for all Kenyans, foreigners, and refugees.
"We shall then create one database for the entire country linked to National Registration Bureau, Civil Registry Services, Kenya Revenue Authority, and National Hospital Insurance Fund," said Prof Bitok.
Lowered costs
Viona Nzilani, a resident of Donholm feels the opening of businesses by foreigners has lowered the cost of many products and services.
"The economy is not good and any opening for cheap products is a blessing in disguise. If there is a foreigner who is providing a product at less than Sh10 less compared to the local trader, what will not stop me from the cheaper alternative,'' says Nzilani, adding that the more there are cheaper options, the better for consumers and the economy.
According to James Mageke, the invasion by foreigners is because Kenyan traders are not creative enough - they copy each other.
''Our friends come, identify our weaknesses in business and invent simple tricks to make money. We have some hidden treasure that some of us have not been able to exploit,'' states Mageke.
Aliens often give mixed reactions about their experiences in the country. What is clear, however, is that Kenyans are hospitable and tolerant to foreigners whose numbers have been rising steadily.
Most of the foreigners doing unskilled and semi-skilled jobs live in informal and low-income settlements like Kibra, Kawangware, Pipeline, Soweto, Kayole, Dandora, Kariobangi, Mathare, and Mwiki.
Geofrey Amboka, a welder in Umoja is against the influx saying locals are being denied opportunities. He wants the government to have clear guidelines on the nature of businesses foreigners can engage in.
According to the man, some countries have reserved sectors to bar foreign nationals from operating businesses in economic hub reserved for citizens.
''In certain circumstances, foreigners partner with locals to empower the hosts and the foreign entities in the reserved sector are only allowed where firms would fund local production,'' adds Amboka.
The trader says the Trade Ministry should establish robust policing systems to curb the flooding of aliens taking over the local market at the expense of small traders.
"The government should protect the local traders by enhancing or providing sufficient funding and capacity building for its citizens to increase their business participation. These funds will scale up the number of entrepreneurship in our communities," states Amboka.
