Doha World Championships Notebook - Day Three

Kenya’s population much bigger than that of oil rich Qatar

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Qatar is doing much better in many aspects compared to Kenya, but there is one area where even Kenya’s capital Nairobi beats Qatar as a country hands down.

The oil-rich country which is measuring approximately 11, 571 square kilometres in size, has a population of 2.7 million people, according to the latest statistics.

In comparison, Kenya’s capital city Nairobi has a population of four million people, which is projected to rise to seven million in the year 2030.

Qatar’s capital Doha has 796,947 people. The number of children per household in Qatar is also much lower than Kenya’s.

But the comparison between Qatar and her neighbours is even baffling. Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has a population of 32.9 million people, while the United Arab Emirates has 9.4 million people.

Doha melting point of nationalities with African expatriates in plenty

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Qatar’s capital Doha is a melting point of people of different nationalities.

When you land at Qatar’s only airport, the Hamad International Airport, the taxi driver that will drive you to your hotel is more likely to be an Indian, a Filipino, a Nepalese, Algerian or a Moroccan.

Once you jump in the car, they are friendly and will bring you up you up to speed on Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 Fifa World Cup, the 2017 blockade on Qatar by her “jealous neighbours and how the country’s economy has grown under their current leader.

When I landed here, a jolly driver called Wazir from India told me the country has made the most of her oil and gas deposits to improve the life of her citizens as well as those of workers from other countries.

When you venture into hotels and conference halls, you will find Kenyans working in most of the areas, but there are also Ugandans, Ghanaians and Zimbabweans.

Cheap oil, locals’ affluence puts fuel guzzlers on the roads of Qatar

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A visitor to Qatar’s capital city Doha will immediately notice the large number of high-end vehicles on the city’s roads.

Driven by low cost of fuel and wealth from oil and gas exports, Qataris invest their money in real estate as seen by the many skyscrapers coming up in Doha. But they also have a liking for huge, spacious and thirsty cars, and they will not hesitate to display the car’s ability on the wide roads in the city.

Of all the luxurious makes of cars, Qataris seem to have more liking for British-made MG and Range Rover cars, closely followed by German makes like Mercedes Benz and BMW.

Ferraris, Chryslers and Toyota Land Cruisers are a common sight in the streets. A litre of petrol retails for two Qatari Riyals (Sh52), so most people can afford to have the fuel guzzlers without hurting their pockets.

Here, they drive on the right side and traffic rules are strictly followed

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Personal cars driven on the roads of Doha are not only huge and thirsty machines but they are also left hand-drive.

As opposed to Kenya where motorists keep left, drivers on Qatari roads keep right. Drivers have courtesy and they observe traffic rules.

Non-functional traffic lights that are a common sight in Nairobi are unheard of in Doha, and the city’s leadership has made full use of technology to enforce discipline on the roads and to deter crime.

Doha’s streets have cameras placed strategically at different places and traffic offenders are easily apprehended. And there are no tuk tuks here!