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Kilwa’s ghosts: Reclaiming the Swahili coast’s lost glory
Kilwa was the beating heart of the Swahili Coast for many centuries. PHOTO | FILE
In 1331, the Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta sailed into Kilwa, an opulent city that defied imagination. “The city is amongst the most beautiful of cities and most elegantly built,” he wrote, marvelling at palaces of coral stone, streets perfumed with cloves and cinnamon, and a sultan draped in silk robes woven with gold. Kilwa was the beating heart of the Swahili Coast—a cosmopolitan empire where Bantus, Arabs, and Persians forged a civilisation that dominated Indian Ocean trade for centuries.
Today, however, Kilwa Kisiwani stands as a ghost of its former self. Its crumbling ruins endure silently under the equatorial sun while fewer than 10,000 tourists visit each year to witness its faded splendour. There is a clear tourism apartheid at play—90 percent of visitors flock to the north, while southern treasures like Kilwa remain in the shadows.
Kilwa’s history is as mesmerising as it is profound. Founded in the 10th century by Persian prince and the legendary Bantu queen Mwana Mkisi, Kilwa emerged as a beacon of trade and cultural exchange. At its peak, the city was the Manhattan of medieval Africa—its skyline adorned with coral towers, its markets bustling with traders, and its currency so respected that Kilwa-minted coins have been found as far afield as Zimbabwe, India, and Australia. It was a city of economic power and cultural prestige, a centrepiece of Swahili civilisation.
The Great Mosque of Kilwa, with its soaring domes, was an architectural marvel. Husuni Kubwa, an imposing palace with more than a hundred rooms, was the largest building in sub-Saharan Africa. By the 15th century, Kilwa’s population had swelled to over 30,000—far outstripping cities like Mogadishu and Mombasa.
Then came the Portuguese in 1505, with guns and cannonballs, and left behind a legacy of destruction and decline. Today, those ruins still whisper of a grandeur long past, yet they remain largely unexplored.
And it’s not just Kilwa. The south—blessed with two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a stunning 480-kilometre stretch of pristine coastline from Lindi to Mtwara, the turquoise waters of Lake Nyasa—remains overlooked. The potential is immense, but the region suffers from poor infrastructure, weak marketing, and an absence of a coordinated development strategy.
Against this backdrop, and in the context of the larger Mtwara Development Corridor (MtDC), we propose a bold ten-year vision to revive Kilwa—aiming to attract one million tourists annually, create a billion-dollar economy, and generate over 50,000 jobs. The MtDC should not only be a corridor of pipelines, ports, and minerals. It must also be a cultural corridor—a bridge to our past, and a canvas for our future.
Central to this revival is investment in infrastructure and technology. Modern highways linking Kilwa to Dar, Selous, Rufiji, Ruangwa, and Mtwara would knit the region together and open access to its historical gems. Rebuilding Kilwa’s cityscape—its ancient streets and homes—must respect authenticity while integrating digital storytelling. Augmented reality tours will allow visitors to experience the grandeur of 14th-century Kilwa, walking through fully visualised Husuni Kubwa and Husuni Ndogo, immersed in a virtual reconstruction of a once-thriving city.
But Kilwa’s revival is not just about infrastructure. It’s about experience—crafted, curated, and unforgettable. Imagine guided evening tours under the moonlight, the stones of Kilwa echoing with Swahili poetry. Imagine walking in the footsteps of Mwana Mkisi, led by custodians of Kilwa’s legacy. Imagine tasting food from recipes recorded in Ibn Battuta’s journals—coconut fish and saffron rice, served in candlelit courtyards that whisper history.
This is not nostalgia—it is a new frontier in African tourism. And Kilwa sits at the intersection of heritage and opportunity. Visitors will not only explore history but also witness the South’s ongoing transformation: from graphite mines and natural gas plants to the engineering marvels of the JNHPP. Paired with Selous safaris and eco-lodges, Kilwa can offer a tourism package unlike anything else on the continent—a blend of ancient and modern, wild and urban, cultural and industrial.
This revival must be linked with Mtwara’s rise. As Mtwara transforms through port expansion, LNG investment, mineral processing plants and the emergence of the SEZ, we will be seeing the birth of a new urban and economic pillar in the South. Kilwa will complete that story—turning the MtDC into a full-spectrum experience for the traveller, the investor, and the historian. From Dar’s city streets to Kilwa’s ancient ruins to Mtwara’s booming industry, this corridor will become a journey through Tanzania’s past and future.
We propose a reclamation of Tanzania’s soul. We propose rebuilding the coral arches of Husuni Kubwa and turning Kilwa into a living monument—a hub of culture, commerce, and education. We envision food festivals celebrating Swahili cuisine, interactive museums using AI and 3D reconstruction, and artist residencies hosted within rebuilt Swahili mansions. Let the profits of LNG, coal, graphite and titanium fund not just ports and plants—but palaces and poetry. Kilwa’s ruins will finally give the South the voice it deserves.
Let’s rebuild Kilwa, let’s reawaken its ghosts, and let’s unleash its ancient splendour to illuminate the path to the south’s renaissance.
Charles Makakala is a Technology and Management Consultant based in Dar es Salaam
