Akwenye Takes African Wellness to the World

Those who’ve slipped out of the traffic on Windhoek’s Jan Jonker Avenue and found themselves at Nomad African Wellness Homestead know it’s no ordinary day spa.

Run-of-the-mill robes can be swapped for patterned chitenges.

Visitors engage in soothing ceremonies and smokey cleansing rituals rather than treatments.

And talented massage therapists with visual impairments make use of marula oil, mahangu exfoliant, stones, calabashes and sticks to knead away the worries of the world while burning African incense.

Drawing on the traditions of our foremothers, this uniquely African approach to wellness is what sets Nomad African Wellness Homestead founder Mariane Akwenye apart.

It is also why she has recently been appointed the chair of the Africa Initiative by the Global Wellness Institute.

“We are thrilled to have Mariane Akwenye lead the Africa Initiative,” says Global Wellness Institute chief executive Susie Ellis.

“Her expertise and passion for African wellness will undoubtedly drive significant progress, positioning Africa as a vital source of inspiration and knowledge in the global wellness arena.”

The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) is a non-profit organisation focused on researching, documenting and disseminating data about the wellness industry across the world.

Through its research, programmes and initiatives, GWI has been instrumental in the growth of the multitrillion wellness economy and in uniting health and wellness industries.

The Global Wellness Institute reports that the global wellness economy was valued at US$5,6 trillion in 2022.

In her role as chair of the Africa Initiative, Akwenye plans to elevate Africa’s presence in the global wellness sphere while positioning the continent as a reservoir of ancient healing wisdom and profound insights into natural wellness practices.

With Akwenye at the helm, the Africa Initiative additionally aims to empower local communities and foster global collaborations with a special interest in sustainability and inclusive development.

“The African continent has not been on any pedestals when it comes to wellness. This is actually very sad, because we are often a source of inspiration for whatever’s happening out there in the world,” she says.

“Globally, people look towards Africa, then they butter it up, mix it and twirl it out as a trend or a modality.”

Akwenye says an example of a therapy that is gaining traction in the Western world that is akin to modalities in Africa is sound therapy.

“Africa is very well known for its sound. In the West, there is something called sound therapy. They’ve put a name to it. It’s bells and all kinds of instruments. Yet in Africa, it starts from the voice – we sing,” she says.

“If we look at our indigenous peoples, historically, they go into a transformative or healing trance through singing, clapping and dancing. Drumming is another example,” she says.

“The question is: How can we take all of this knowledge and share it with the world? The knowledge, the healing wisdom and the indigenous therapies are there. They’re just not packaged in ways people can relate to or which are user friendly.”

Another example of a popular sister therapy is meditation, which Akwenye says is simply lacking an accepted name, but exists in various African cultures.

“Old people would wake up early in the morning and go sit by the river and just be. What were they doing? They were engaged in a form of meditation, a form of prayer, a form of communing with their ancestors, but we don’t have an instantly recognisable name for it,” she says.

“The difference is that popular wellness industries have named these practices. They call them meditation and mindfulness.”

The task of highlighting, naming and formalising authentic, shared and little-known African wellness traditions is a key part of Akwenye’s mandate and an integral step in growing African wellness tourism.

“Wellness is such a fundamental partner to hospitality. There’s no new hotel being built without a spa. There’s no establishment that isn’t trying to add this element. Why is that?” she asks.

‘HUNGRY FOR AUTHENTICITY’

“Because the minute you have a spa, your guest stays a day or two longer. All of a sudden, there’s something else to do. But tourists are hungry for authenticity. Global travellers are not coming to Namibia for a Swedish massage.”

Akwenye also cautions against the danger of diluting African wellness to simply playing African music or adorning spaces with generic African décor.

“It starts with things like the menu. The treatment is called an indigenous name, but it’s simply a Swedish massage,” she says.

“We mustn’t get trapped in that thinking of superficial ways to make it ‘African’.”

In her role as chair of the Africa Initiative, Akwenye hopes to engage various stakeholders, from government to tourism companies, to create a framework in which the African wellness economy can unearth, safeguard and share African wellness traditions, techniques and healing practices.

Imagining a future in which the Africa Initiative has thoroughly achieved its goals, Akwenye envisions Africa at the top of the wellness world.

“My vision and end goal is that we have a modality – whatever that looks like. It may incorporate marimbas, djembe drums, whatever is authentic and truly ours, and uses oil from the soil,” she says.

“Imagine a wellness destination in the oldest desert in the world, a night-time spa experience in conversation with Sisco Auala’s work on indigenous reading of the stars.

“When the work is truly done, African wellness will have infiltrated the world to such an extent that travelling to the continent to seek healing and wellness is a no-brainer, a must-do – top of the bucket list.”

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com