John Waibochi (left) is at the top of the pyramid of tech innovators who are remaking Kenya’s reputation on the global stage. With his company Virtual City, Waibochi helped herald Kenya’s arrival as an innovation hub when he received Nokia’s Growth Economy Innovation Challenge Award along with a $1 million investment last September.

Bushes beneath a billboard by the Westlands roundabout. A metal filing cabinet guarded by a thick steel safe-door in a Museum Hill room. A bridge under construction on the Thika Road. What do these have in common? They – and two dozen other sites dotted around Nairobi – were places where Daily Dispatches, a month-long photojournalism project just completed, found stories revealing the lives lived in this fast-evolving, emblematic African capital.

Omondi was expecting to take an underground train directly from downtown Moi Avenue to a rugby training session in Westlands. However, he heard on the radio that the line was not working.