Picture a single Nairobi complex where some of the world’s largest conferences can take place at the same time.
One hall would shelter thousands of delegates beneath a broad contemporary roof, while another accommodates ministers and heads of state within a private pavilion.
Close by, innovators meet in smaller glass-fronted rooms for focused breakout sessions.
Beyond the buildings, landscaped gardens are lit by solar-powered systems, while inside, digital installations present Kenya’s cultures in vivid and engaging ways.
That is the ambition behind the new Bomas International Convention Centre (BICC), a major project recasting one of Kenya’s best-known cultural sites into a premium conference and heritage destination.
Tourism CS Rebecca Miano told senators the project has completed key design stages, made substantial progress on core structural works, and is continuing with infrastructure and auxiliary installations.
Scale sits at the centre of the planlarge, clear and aimed at international attention.
The complex will include a 5,000-seat main convention hall for continental summits.
It will also contain a 3,500-seat auditorium for major speeches and performances, plus a 1,500-seat banquet ballroom for state dinners and international galas.
A separate presidential pavilion, planned around security and protocol requirements, will be able to host up to 32 heads of state at once, strengthening Nairobi’s appeal for major diplomatic events.
Across 54 meeting rooms, the centre is designed to accommodate as many as 11,000 delegates, making it among Africa’s largest conference complexes.
That capacity reflects Kenya’s wider ambition to attract global summits, business forums and high-value exhibitions.
Yet the design is not only about size.
The convention halls are being equipped with advanced sound and presentation systems to support hybrid meetings.
Miano said participants in Nairobi will be able to engage smoothly with audiences joining remotely from anywhere in the world.
Breakout rooms will function as quiet “thinking pods” for smaller groups to hold focused discussions away from the main event activity.
Natural light, open walkways and broad circulation areas are being prioritised so movement through the complex remains smooth and easy to follow, even when thousands are present.
Outside, parking for 1,300 vehicles and landscaped grounds are meant to reduce congestion while creating a calm and welcoming setting around the large facility.
Perhaps the project’s most defining ambition is to combine modern global standards with Kenyan identity.
Bomas of Kenya has long been recognised as a living cultural museum, presenting traditional music, dance and architecture from across the country.
That character is not being removed; it is being incorporated into the new development.
A major component is the proposed Bomas Digital, Cultural and Heritage Centre.
Within it, visitors will do more than observe exhibitsthey will experience them.
Plans include digital exhibitions of traditional performances, digitised oral-history archives and virtual storytelling spaces where visitors can “walk through” Kenya’s diverse communities.
“The centre will feature immersive digital exhibitions, including oral-history archives, virtual storytelling experiences and digitised performances of traditional music and dance,” she said.
“It will also include interactive sections where visitors can explore indigenous knowledge systems, crafts, attire and rituals from different communities across the country.”
Indigenous crafts, attire, rituals and knowledge systems will be preserved through interactive formats, allowing students, researchers and tourists to engage with heritage beyond static presentations.
In effect, the site is being shaped as two connected worlds: a major international conference hub on one side and a deeply rooted cultural archive on the other.
Tourism CS Rebecca Miano told the Senate Roads and Transport Committee that this dual identity is deliberate, with zoning intended to ensure the modern conference facilities complement rather than overshadow the cultural village.
Still, the architectural ambition comes with pressure: although the government says the project will be completed by September, only 34.5 per cent of the physical works have been finished.
This is despite 70 per cent of the implementation period having already elapsed, a gap that has raised questions in Parliament even as officials express confidence in the delivery timeline.
Miano told senators that major structural milestones have been reached, with the remaining work focused on finishing, installations and final systems integration, phases usually completed more quickly.
Questions also remain over procurement and financing.
Lawmakers asked why the Ministry of Defence is overseeing procurement and how costs are being controlled in a project of such size.
The CS defended the arrangement, pointing to the scale and technical complexity of the development.
Despite these concerns, the vision remains unchanged.
If completed as planned, the Bomas International Convention Centre will not be just another building in Nairobi.
It will be a stage for global leaders, a space where cultures are preserved digitally and a platform through which Kenya presents itself to the worldnot only as a conference host but as a narrator of its own identity.
A place where tradition and technology are not rivals, but partners.