Recently, Jason Njoku, the Nigerian founder of Iroko TV, wondered why young Africans don't consider their own continent worthy of being a tourist destination: (http://www.jason.com.ng/post/100835622860/why-dont-young-africans-explore-africa).
I can understand his query because I regularly fantasize about visiting Times Square instead of visiting Mombasa's Fort Jesus. However, it goes deeper than that: as African children, we're socialised to believe that our continent is a casino for armies that cook coups in their barracks instead of protecting our borders against external aggressors, a rugby pitch that now pits China against the rest of the world for our minerals resting in peace underground and oh yes, the latest shame, the global monopolistic provider of Ebola, etc. Now, can you blame us if we desire to tour Dubai instead?
But, after reading and hearing tales about Europe and America not being the streets of bling we've always them to be, I've begun showing, but painfully, love for my continent, faults and all. Despite my attempts at mindset transformation, I still need help from Kenya's county governments. Instead of their officials clocking frequent flier miles in search of tourists from Shanghai, why not travel all over Kenya and try persuade us to tour their counties instead?
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