City Market, Nairobi. File photo. Photo: Sam Wilson (taken with Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Nairobi markets, ranked by what you should actually buy there.
Nairobi's markets are not interchangeable. Each has a specialism, a rhythm and a price level, and buying the wrong thing in the wrong place is how people end up convinced that markets are not cheaper than supermarkets. They are, if you go to the right one.
Toi Market
Go for: second-hand clothes and shoes, at the volume end.
On Kibera's Ngong Road edge, Toi is where a large amount of Nairobi's wardrobe is priced. Stock turns over fast. Early morning gives you first pick of newly opened bales; late afternoon gives you the best prices on what is left. Bargain, and buy from someone you can go back to.
Gikomba
Go for: mitumba at wholesale, furniture, tools and fabric.
The biggest second-hand market in East Africa and the source for many smaller traders, including some at Toi. It is enormous, disorienting and best visited with someone who knows it. This is where you go if you are buying to resell.
Wakulima (Marikiti)
Go for: fresh produce in bulk, before dawn.
Nairobi's main wholesale produce market. This is where the mama mboga buys, which means retail customers who come here get close to trade prices, but only if they are buying in trade quantities and are prepared to be there very early.
City Market
Go for: meat, fish, flowers and curio shopping.
The colonial-era covered market in the city centre. Prices are higher than the open markets and the curio section is aimed at visitors, so bargain hard there. The butchery and fish sections are genuinely good.
Muthurwa
Go for: cheap household goods, plastics, clothing and produce.
Chaotic, crowded and cheap, sitting next to the main matatu terminus, which is the point. Watch your pockets and know what you came for.
Kangemi and Kawangware
Go for: produce at neighbourhood prices without the pre-dawn start.
The big western-corridor markets are the sensible middle ground for households: cheaper than a supermarket, calmer than Gikomba, open at civilised hours.
Maasai Market
Go for: crafts, beadwork and gifts.
A rotating market that sets up at different locations on different days. Prices open high for anyone who looks like a visitor. Expect to pay a third to a half of the first number quoted, and take your time.
Rules that apply everywhere
Carry small notes. Go early for quality and late for price. Never accept the first figure. Ask a trader what something should cost before you ask what it does cost, because most will tell you honestly if you are not already committed. And build a relationship with two or three sellers; regular customers get the better stock and the better price, and that is worth more than any single haggle.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Nairobi’s markets are not interchangeable. Each has a specialism, a rhythm and a price level, and buying the wrong thing in the wrong place is how people end up convinced that markets are not cheaper than supermarkets. They are, if you go to the right one.
Toi Market
Go for: second-hand clothes and shoes, at the volume end.
On Kibera’s Ngong Road edge, Toi is where a large amount of Nairobi’s wardrobe is priced. Stock turns over fast. Early morning gives you first pick of newly opened bales; late afternoon gives you the best prices on what is left. Bargain, and buy from someone you can go back to.
Gikomba
Go for: mitumba at wholesale, furniture, tools and fabric.
The biggest second-hand market in East Africa and the source for many smaller traders, including some at Toi. It is enormous, disorienting and best visited with someone who knows it. This is where you go if you are buying to resell.
Wakulima (Marikiti)
Go for: fresh produce in bulk, before dawn.
Nairobi’s main wholesale produce market. This is where the mama mboga buys, which means retail customers who come here get close to trade prices, but only if they are buying in trade quantities and are prepared to be there very early.
City Market
Go for: meat, fish, flowers and curio shopping.
The colonial-era covered market in the city centre. Prices are higher than the open markets and the curio section is aimed at visitors, so bargain hard there. The butchery and fish sections are genuinely good.
Muthurwa
Go for: cheap household goods, plastics, clothing and produce.
Chaotic, crowded and cheap, sitting next to the main matatu terminus, which is the point. Watch your pockets and know what you came for.
Kangemi and Kawangware
Go for: produce at neighbourhood prices without the pre-dawn start.
The big western-corridor markets are the sensible middle ground for households: cheaper than a supermarket, calmer than Gikomba, open at civilised hours.
Maasai Market
Go for: crafts, beadwork and gifts.
A rotating market that sets up at different locations on different days. Prices open high for anyone who looks like a visitor. Expect to pay a third to a half of the first number quoted, and take your time.
Rules that apply everywhere
Carry small notes. Go early for quality and late for price. Never accept the first figure. Ask a trader what something should cost before you ask what it does cost, because most will tell you honestly if you are not already committed. And build a relationship with two or three sellers; regular customers get the better stock and the better price, and that is worth more than any single haggle.
