“A beautiful woman sitting in the dark”

Abstract This ethnographic study of the Master’s in Conference Interpreting at the University of Nairobi aims to link interpreter training to the linguistic make-up of Kenyan society and the constraints of public higher education in Africa. It is the first comprehensive study of interpreter training in Kenya, and shows the limits of replicating pedagogical approaches that have been tried and tested in Europe in a different environment. Based on the findings, I recommend a widening of the scope of training to include conference, court and community interpreting. It is argued that this would improve the sustainability and relevance of interpreter training in Africa.