Features

Eighty years in Sri Lanka:The Life and Times of Fr. Vito Perniola SJ

Published

2 years ago

2024/05/26

By Avishka Mario Senewiratne
Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
May 13, 2024

I always wonder how he did it? A simple, slender Italian priest who used the bus to get about. He was one who never compromised on discipline. A stickler for proper diction who spoke a manifold of Western and Oriental languages. A first-rate scholar who realized there was a single door one could walk in and outof between history and social linguistics. He embraced the Lankan heritage by becoming a distinguished citizen of the country just after independence.

Generations not born here will laud and praise the memory of Father Vito Perniola of the Society of Jesus for his exemplary efforts in publishing 19 definitive volumes on the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka. Abstemious by nature, and frugal in food, drink, clothes, and lifestyle, Fr. Vito Perniola was a shining example of plain living and high thinking.

Vito Perniola was born in Bari, South Italy on April 10, 1913, the fifth in a family of 11. His parents were Michele Perniola and Lucia di Gregorio, a well-to-do family. Deeply religious and conservative, they live a spiritual life, guided by their Parish Church. Though Vito’s father wanted him to pursue higher education as layperson, one event changed his life plans. While 11-year-old Vito was praying at the altar of St. Francis Xavier in his Parish Church, he received a strong calling to the priesthood. He discerned at that age that this was his true vocation; to be a Jesuit. With that conviction, he told his parents of his wish. Though upset, they consented.

Vito’s elder brother and two of his sisters would join different religious congregations. In 1925, at the age of 13 years, Vito joined the Society of Jesus. He was determined to be of the same order as St. Francis Xavier. In 1928, he joined the Jesuit Novitiate in Naples. From those early days, he displayed his great talents for studies. It was in Naples that he became aware of the Sacred Heart College, Shembaganur in South India from a catalogue of Jesuits institutions and seminaries. Realizing that this was the country where his saint hero, Xavier had been a missionary, Perniola was determined to receive his formation in India and later be a missionary in Ceylon, a country of which he had heard fascinating stories.

In his writings Perniola states that his time at Shembaganur were the best days of his life. Coming from a conservative Italian background, he encountered an all embracing setting in this part of the world. The weather here was sublime. It was here that he learned English for the first time. After four years of formation and philosophical studies in Shembaganur, Perniola departed for Ceylon, which was British Colony at the time. He had heard of the great work the Belgian and Italian Jesuits had done in the Jesuit Province of Galle since 1893.

In June 1936, Vito Perniola sat the Matriculation Examination. His subjects were English, Mathematics, Latin, Greek and Italian. Till he received his results he learned Sinhala. Perniola spoke fluent, grammatically correct Sinhala with a South Italian accent. He spent his time between serving in Parishes and teaching at St. Aloysius’ College, Galle.

When he was at the stage of deciding what field of studies to pursue, he made a choice that surprised many. He said to his superiors: “… Jesuits had already been in Sri Lanka for 50 years and yet nobody has studied Buddhism. Could I study Buddhism or Pali?” The Superiors supported Perniola’s intention. However, there was nobody within the Jesuit community who could teach him and provide him sources of references. This did not bother Perniola the least as he studied on his own, travelling across the country to study in the best libraries. Within a short time, he learnt both Pali and Sanskrit. He knew these languages better than most locals. It was decided that he be enrolled in Bachelor’s program at the University of London where he studied alone as there was no one to guide him.

In his early writing Perniola says: “The relationship between Pali and Sanskrit is very much like that of Italian and Latin. No Pali grammar can be written without reference to Sanskrit. For Sanskrit I had an excellent grammar; for Pali I had nothing worth the name.” Through perseverance and methodical study, he passed his exams and received his B.A. (Hons) in 1940. The best Pali scholars at the time were mostly German. Their texts elucidating Pali and Sanskrit were noteworthy efforts. To understand Pali better, Perniola studied German, a language difficult to master.

He entered the Papal Seminary, Kandy for his Theological Studies. It was during this time that World War II broke out and Italians in Ceylon were under scrutiny and some were sent for interment. However, the Bishop of Kandy, Msgr. Dom Bernard Regno OSB (an Italian himself), intervened and convinced his close friend, Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott, to spare the seminarians in Kandy. Accordingly, Perniola remained free despite the tensions of the War.

On June 21, 1943, Fr. Perniola was ordained a Priest by Bishop Nicholas Laudadio SJ at the Cathedral of Galle. After serving a few years in parishes such as Hiniduma, Fr. Perniola was appointed to the tutorial staff of St. Aloysius’ College, Galle in 1947. To his great disappointment, he did not have provisions to teach Pali, which was his speciality as there were no Pali classes in St. Aloysius.’ However, as there was a vacancy for teaching history, Fr. Perniola was assigned to teach that subject. It was during this time that he came to know Fr. S G. Perera, the revered historian, who was by then half-paralyzed and a resident of St. Aloysius’ College. Fr. Perera and Fr. Perniola developed a great friendship. Soon, with much support from Fr. Perera, Fr. Perniola had a sound knowledge and understanding of the history of Ceylon. It is ironic that an Italian taught Ceylon history to young Ceylonese boys!

Fr. Perniola taught history to the boys of St. Aloysius’ using the textbook prepared by Fr. Perera in 1932, History of Ceylon for Schools. This book which covered colonial Ceylon, was authoritative and scholarly textbook that remained the standard textbook of all Ceylon schools until the early 1960s. A few years after Fr. Perera’s death in 1956, Fr. Perniolal at the request of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., revised and enlarged Fr. Perera’s textbook. This was a useful contribution that the students and scholars of the time appreciated.

During the early 1930s, Fr. S. G. Perera had begun a project to document the history of the Catholic Church during the Dutch period. He had published a few of these documents, but the project was far from complete. Fr. Perniola took up the challenge to finish this work. In the process of understanding the documents of the Portuguese period, he learnt Portuguese. However, with other work in his ministry, he had to postpone this project. In 1949, Fr. Perniola received distinguished citizenship of the country, approved by D.S. Senanayake, the Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence and External Affairs.

Fr. Perniola was appointed Rector of St. Aloysius’ College for three years. During this period St. Aloysius College, dubbed by some as the ‘University of Galle,’ had some renowned educationists such as Frs. Julius Pogany, Chiriatti, Claude Daly, P. N. Peiris and many others. The school magazine contained scholarly articles by the staff and students. When this magazine, The Aloysian reached the Peradeniya or Colombo campuses of the University of Ceylon, readers were left amazed by the quality of the articles. A few years after his term ended, Fr. Perniola accepted Fr. Peter Pillai OMI’s invitation to join the newly established Aquinas College, Colombo as a lecturer in Pali, teaching the language to Arts students. At that time, Aquinas was affiliated to the University of London.

He enjoyed this new venture but realized that there was no Pali grammar textbook for students. Learning a new and complex language from scratch to degree level, warranted a well composed grammar book. For this purpose, Fr. Perniola himself compiled a textbook called Pali Grammar in 1958. This was one of the best textbooks ever on the language. Many Buddhist monks and others have studied Pali grammar referring to this book without even knowing that the author was an Italian Catholic priest. In 1997, the Pali Text Society of the University of Oxford republished this book as the official Pali Grammar.

Perniola was consulted by many scholars then and now. Dr. C. E. Godakumbura, Prof. Sucharita Gamlath and Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge have warmly praised his linguistic efforts. Prof. Gamplath, in an article to Silumina on September 29, 2002, stated that “Existing Sinhala Grammars should be revised on the basis of Perniola’s insight”. Dr. Guruge in his autobiography titled Ma Vani Bilinda acknowledges his debt to Perniola’s guidance.

Fr. Perniola was a man with a tremendous sense of discipline in nearly everything he did. He always stuck to the rules and clauses of the language. Though his writings and works were grammatically perfect, at times he lacked style and elegance of writing. Fr. Aloysius Pieris SJ in his tribute to Fr. Perniola states: “It is also true that intense focus on the rules of the game sometimes prevented him from playing the game in style.

“ In 2013, Prof. Ven. Gnanaratana Thera, gave a professional assessment on Perniola, the grammarian (cf. Krinsansa, December 2013, pp. 144-153). The Ven. Thera states that Perniola followed a ‘middle path between overly philological and excessively traditional approaches to Pali grammar. He mastered the scriptural Pali as to have adduced rare, hitherto unmentioned examples of Pali usages to illustrate various grammatical rules.’

Furthermore, the Ven. Thera made a comparison between the German scholar Wilheim Geiger and Fr. Perniola saying the latter was more methodical and incredibly familiar with the language and idiom of Pali. Fr. Perniola’s dissertation on ‘Samasa’ (multi-barreled word compounds) resulted him being awarded a doctorate on linguistics from the University of Poona in 1966.

At Aquinas, Fr. Perniola taught Theology for many years. He was made acting rector when Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI was overseas. This was the time that the 1971 JVP insurrection took place. Fr. Perniola also served as the Vice Rector to Fr. W. L. A. Don Peter at Aquinas. During his stay in Colombo, Fr. Perniola became a popular figure among the laity. He was counselor and spiritual guide to many religious and laypeople. Despite his busy schedule, he always made himself available to anyone who sought his guidance. He compiled three useful books on meditation, namely, ‘Touching the Divine’, ‘Abiding in Love’ and ‘Praying with Scriptures’. These books went into several editions and over 10,000 copies have been sold. This has been an essential guide for many seminarians, priests as well as laypeople.

In 1972, Fr. Vito Perniola was appointed as the Provincial of the Jesuits in Sri Lanka. After his term ended, there was much pressure on why no one was continuing what Fr. S. G. Perera had begun on the Catholic Church history during the Dutch period. The recently retired Bishop of Chilaw, Bishop Edmund Peiris, appealed to Fr. Perniola to commence this work. This is how Fr. Perniola embarked on the project for which he is mostly remembered. With the support and blessing of Fr. Thomas Kuriacose SJ, the Provincial, Fr. Perniola started to gather documents for this monumental work.

In the late 1970s, he was awarded a scholarship by the House of Writers of the Society of Jesus in Rome and a research grant from Missio in Germany. This enabled him to travel to Rome, Portugal, and the Netherlands in the quest of tracking and procuring documents pertaining to the Dutch Period in Ceylon, collecting several documents on the Portuguese and British periods as well. He immediately realized that he would have to compile similar volumes for those periods too.

The translations of the Dutch period documents were not easy. With the help of the former Government Assistant Archivist, S. A. W. Mattau and number of other scholars Fr. Perniola translated Dutch and other documents of the period. Documenting the correspondence and reports of the early Oratorian missionaries such as Fr. Joseph Vaz and Fr. Jacome Goncalvez were noteworthy contributions. These documents reveal the cordial relationship between the Kandyan kings and Oratorian missionaries as well as the moderate attitude taken by the Dutch for the benefit of the Catholics during and after Dutch-Kandyan wars. Fr. Perniola quite objectively shares the documents of the time the missionaries fell out with the Nayakkar kings over mistakes on their part. Accordingly, between 1983 and 1985, Fr. Perniola compiled three large tomes on the Dutch Period.

These volumes impressed not only Catholics but also non-Catholics as well. It contained documents that no one ever imagined would see the light of day. These included correspondence of Kandyan Kings, Dutch Governors, Viceroys, Papal Secretaries, missionaries, and others. Fr. Perniola translated them in such a way that the discerning reader would easily understand them. If there were inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the letters, he would state them in the footnotes and give a far more comprehensive detail of what mattered. His works were well supplemented by a carefully compiled glossary, bibliography, and index. Clearly, a researcher who bases his work on these documents compiled by Perniola, can easily profit from them. Fr. Perniola’s introductions to each book sums up his ability to elucidate a sophisticated and well research twist of history. He gave a balanced, objective analysis of the period, people, and events he dealt with, often being critical of the mistakes made by religious missionaries.

Between 1989 and 1991, Fr. Perniola published three volumes on the Portuguese period. They ranged from the years: Volume 1: 1505-1565, Volume II: 1566-1619, Volume III: 1619-1656

When the British arrived in Ceylon, the country was divided into the Kingdom of Kandy and the coastal region which was under colonial rule. The Catholic Church of Ceylon was a single province under Cochin. It was only in 1845 that the island was divided into two vicariates: the Colombo (South) and Jaffna (North) Vicariates. In 1883, Kandy was made a separate Vicariate. After the establishment of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Ceylon in 1887, Colombo became an Archdiocese and Jaffna and Kandy became Dioceses. Six years later, the Diocese of Galle and Trincomalee were established. This is the reason why Fr. Perniola compiled 13 volumes on the British Period alone. As those years were close to the present, the number of documents increased by leaps and bounds. Essentially, he had enough content to compile a book covering each year.

In the quest of translating old documents written in a manifold languages such Portuguese, Latin, Dutch, French and others, Fr. Perniola states:

“I try to make the translation readable. Those who wish to study the style of an author, ought to go to the original. Thus, in some way the Italian saying remains true: traduttore, traditore (a translator is a traitor!). But while I have made the translation readable, I have tried to be faithful to the meaning of the text.”

Each and every book by Fr. Perniola was well accepted. Hardly anyone has ever taken the hard road he had in documenting over 10,000 pages of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. It is indeed a gigantic contribution. The final years of his life were very challenging as some blocked Fr. Perniola from tracing important documents of the period as they felt challenged. Nevertheless, his final book was published in 2011, when he was 97 years old.

His efforts in documenting history and Pali grammar were barely recognized by the Catholic Church. No one he associated with realized the importance of what he had been diligently working on in the twilight of his life. However, on the verge of turning 100 years, the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, of which Fr. Perniola was a member for nearly 70 years, awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Society which only a few scholars of yesteryear have been privileged to receive. This was a well-deserved recognition. Fr. Perniola continued writing short articles to the newspapers till he passed away in January 2016.

Fr. Perniola’s legacy will remain in the words and efforts of his very many books. There are many gaps yet to be covered and his 19 volumes on the Catholic Church would save years of research and money for the present and future scholar, for he had methodically included nearly everything relevant in these volumes. Essentially, if one owns these books, he or she has direct access to a well-set archive, supplemented by an index. Following are a few ideas and factors that can be derived after perusing Fr. Perniola’s books:

· The writing of an authoritative account of the history of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka

· Supplementing local history of Sri Lanka

· The writing of biographies of individuals, accounts of congregations, institutions, events and dioceses

· The reconciliation of past errors and the celebration of triumphant moments in history

· Inter-religious, inter-racial dialogue

All News Advertisement

Features

Defend civic space upon which peace is built

Published

33 mins ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Jehan Perera

International Peace Day was observed on 21 September. It finds Sri Lanka with a genuine achievement to record and a demanding test to meet. The UN’s theme this year was “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” It also honoured the “everyday architects of peace”—people driving local action and building a lasting peace from the ground up. In the 2026 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka rose 30 places, from 97th to 67th among 163 countries. Over the same period, global peacefulness declined for the twelfth consecutive year to its lowest level since the index began, and South Asia suffered the sharpest regional deterioration. The test is whether the government will protect the civic space in which those architects of peace work.

Sri Lanka’s improvement is real and deserves acknowledgement. In this year’s review, issued a few weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged progress in the form of action against corruption, arrests and investigations linked to political killings, enforced disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, and continued official denunciation of racism. A ranking, however, records conditions at a particular moment. It does not guarantee that they will last. Sustainable peace will depend on three factors. These are whether the government addresses the unresolved causes of conflict, whether it strengthens accountability for past and present abuses, and whether it protects the civic space in which peace is built from below. On the first two the record is incomplete. On the third, the draft NGO law threatens to weaken the very organisations that press for the other two.

What holds Sri Lanka back from a higher place are the same things that fed the war at home and also feed international conflict that rages elsewhere in the world. These are racism or ethnic nationalism that is narrow-focused, corruption and lawlessness. Equality, accountability and the rule of law are their remedies. The present government has committed itself to these, and is a significant improvement over governments of the recent past. But these pillars are not held up by governments alone. Peace is made in villages, workplaces and university campuses. It is made by families who insist on the truth about their disappeared, by journalists and lawyers who expose abuse, and by community organisations that bring Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese into practical cooperation.

Unfinished Work

The UN High Commissioner’s report to the current Human Rights Council session, covering October 2025 to July 2026, shows how much remains to be done. The Prevention of Terrorism Act is still being applied, producing arbitrary arrests and long detention without charge. The report calls for a moratorium pending repeal and for the release of long-term detainees. Military-occupied land has not been released, memorialisation lacks support, and tensions over land and religious sites persist. The Batticaloa district illustrates how such problems endure. In the past three years, two Presidents, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have visited and instructed that the dispute over grazing land in Mailaththamadu and Mathavanai be resolved. It is a dispute between Tamil cattle farmers and outside Sinhala cultivators, and it has not been resolved. When two Presidents issue instructions and nothing changes, the fault lies in the machinery of State. An unresolved dispute does not stand still. It hardens into the next grievance.

Accountability shows the same pattern. The report documents torture and deaths in custody, and surveillance and intimidation of activists, journalists and civil society. Serious cases remain stalled for years, among them the killing of seventeen aid workers of Action Contre la Faim in Muttur two decades ago. Sharper still is the case of the Eastern University refugee camp at Vantharamoolai, where in 1990 the army took away 158 persons in a single day. They were never seen again. The camp’s officer-in-charge, Dr T. Jayasingam, later Vice Chancellor of the university, identified the officers responsible. More than three decades on, those officers have not been questioned. These cases are still remembered because families, survivors and independent witnesses have refused to let them be forgotten. Meanwhile several commissions of inquiry have completed their investigations but nothing further has happened.

What South Africa, Argentina and other post-conflict societies have found indispensable are four pillars of what is called “Transitional Justice” which are truth, accountability, reparations and non-recurrence. In Sri Lanka’s circumstances, truth means credible, independent investigation of what happened to the disappeared, and support for memorialisation. Accountability means prosecuting Muttur, Vantharamoolai and comparable cases, and removing credibly accused persons from senior office. Reparations mean compensation for victims and the return of military-held land. Non-recurrence means repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, releasing those held under it in the meantime, and resolving local disputes such as Mailaththamadu before delay hardens them. A country that buries its past does not escape it. The past returns in the next generation.

Civil Society

It is against this background that the draft NGO law is most troubling. The proposed legislation contains sweeping provisions for State oversight and control of civil society organisations. Among these are enforcing a licensing requirement on NGOs, which is to be renewed every three years, and severe penalties for not submitting reports on time, or for spending on emergency flood relief (for instance) when the NGOs mandate is peacebuilding (as an example) with possible sanctions including deregistration and having to shut down. Civil society groups have warned that it would confer excessive discretion over their registration and operations. Officials in Sri Lanka have abused such powers in the past. Additional power without effective checks invites further abuse. Sound regulation would have clear criteria for registration, an independent registrar and a right of appeal to the courts. What cannot be justified is a regime in which registration becomes a licence to be withheld from organisations that scrutinise policy, expose abuses or advocate for the rights of citizens.

Democracy is based on checks and balances. Those who press for accountability are part of those checks. The contradiction is plain. A government that has pledged accountability, equality and the rule of law ought not to be preparing to weaken the very organisations that press for their fulfilment. The organisations most exposed are those working on disappearances, land, memorialisation and reconciliation in the North and East, where the State’s record is weakest and the need for independent witnesses greatest. Silencing them would not remove the grievances they document. It would remove the channel through which those grievances are addressed peacefully. The government appears to be relenting, which is welcome, but a pause is not a withdrawal. The bill should be withdrawn and any replacement drafted in genuine consultation with those it would govern.

Investment in peace as called for by the UN in its International Peace Day theme implies commitment over time, with returns that come slowly. Sri Lanka’s 30-place rise on the Global Peace Index is a first dividend and nothing more. It can be built upon only if the government matches its commitments with action: withdrawing or fundamentally redrafting the NGO law, repealing or suspending the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and bringing Muttur, Vantharamoolai and Mailaththamadu to resolution. A higher place in a global index is not a certificate of success. Sri Lanka’s higher ranking is an encouraging start, but it will endure only if the space in which citizens speak, question and organise is protected. Peace is built from below, and a government that is serious about it will treat civil society as a partner rather than a threat.

Features

Africa is buying: Sri Lanka must start selling

Published

34 mins ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A call to Sri Lankan exporters and agencies: Can Sri Lanka compete with China and India in Africa?

By Kana V. Kananathan
Former Ambassador

Sri Lanka has spent decades concentrating its exports on traditional markets in Europe, North America and Asia. Yet across the Indian Ocean lies a rapidly expanding market that remains significantly underdeveloped by Sri Lankan exporters: Africa.

The opportunity is not theoretical. Sri Lanka already exports packaging, textiles, rubber products, pharmaceuticals, paper, machinery and electrical goods to African markets. The question is whether these modest beginnings can be transformed into a serious export strategy—and whether Sri Lanka can compete against the enormous commercial presence of China and India.

The answer is yes—but Sri Lanka must compete differently.

Kenya: Gateway to East Africa

Kenya should be the starting point.

Sri Lanka exported approximately US$32.08 million to Kenya in 2025, while importing US$11.41 million. But US$32 million is tiny compared with the opportunity: Kenya imported more than US$24 billion in 2025. Even a 1% share of that market would represent nearly US$240 million in annual exports.

And the commercial base already exists. Sri Lanka’s 2025 exports to Kenya included approximately US$9.99 million in paper and paperboard products, US$9.73 million in knitted fabrics, US$3.64 million in pharmaceuticals, US$1.24 million in rubber products and US$1.20 million in machinery.

Kenya’s import structure is equally revealing. In the third quarter of 2025, industrial supplies represented 34.4% of imports, machinery and capital equipment 19.2%, food and beverages 9.0%, and consumer goods 7.3%. The opportunity for Sri Lanka, therefore, extends well beyond consumer goods—we can become a supplier to African industry.

But competition is fierce. Asia supplied around 70% of Kenya’s imports in 2025, with imports from China rising 16.5% and those from India 11.3%.

Sri Lanka cannot challenge China and India across every product category. Nor should it try. We must target sectors where quality, specialisation, reliability, technical capability, smaller production runs and flexibility matter more than simply offering the lowest price.

Where Can Sri Lanka Compete?

Packaging is an obvious starting point. Cartons, boxes, bags and labels are already among Sri Lanka’s exports to Kenya. Importantly, some Sri Lankan companies operating in Kenya are themselves importing these products from Sri Lanka. The market already exists; the challenge is to scale it.

As Africa’s food-processing, pharmaceutical, apparel and consumer-goods industries expand, demand for sophisticated packaging will grow with them. Sri Lanka already possesses the manufacturing capability and industry experience to capture a larger share.

Industrial rubber products, tyres, gloves and specialised rubber components offer another opportunity where Sri Lanka has established manufacturing expertise.

The apparel supply chain is equally promising. Rather than competing directly with African garment factories, Sri Lanka can supply fabrics, elastics, labels, packaging and specialised textile inputs.

Some Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing and export companies already established in Kenya, Togo, Ghana and Ethiopia are importing several of these inputs from Sri Lanka. The supply chain, therefore, already exists. The next step is to move beyond supplying Sri Lankan-owned factories and become a competitive input supplier to the wider African apparel industry.

Other sectors deserving systematic market development include pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, processed foods, biscuits and confectionery, coconut products, cinnamon and spices, electrical products and cables, industrial chemicals, ceramics, light engineering, agricultural equipment and food-processing machinery.

Sri Lanka should also look beyond physical goods. IT, fintech, banking technology, engineering, healthcare, hospitality management and professional services largely escape the freight disadvantage confronting merchandise exports.

The Tariff Problem Can Become an Opportunity

Market access cannot be discussed without tariffs.The East African Community applies a Common External Tariff with bands of 0%, 10%, 25% and 35%, while certain sensitive products attract still higher protection. Simply filling containers in Colombo with finished consumer goods will therefore not always be commercially competitive.

But that obstacle points towards a bigger opportunity: manufacture in Africa.

Sri Lankan businesses could export intermediate materials while undertaking final assembly, manufacturing, processing or packaging in Kenya. Packaging companies could establish converting plants; electrical manufacturers could assemble locally; pharmaceutical companies could explore manufacturing or packaging partnerships; and food companies could undertake final processing closer to consumers.

Kenya would then become more than an export destination. It could become Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and distribution gateway into East and Central Africa.

With the East African Community now comprising eight partner states and extending geographically from the Indian Ocean towards the Atlantic, establishing a regional presence is increasingly more important than viewing each African country in isolation.

West Africa Cannot Be Ignored

Sri Lanka simultaneously needs a West African strategy.

Ghana offers potential as an English-speaking commercial gateway and host of the AfCFTA Secretariat. Nigeria, with its enormous population and consumer economy, should be approached as a major market in its own right, despite its greater regulatory, currency and operational complexity.

ECOWAS tariff bands of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 35% again make product selection critical. Sri Lanka should concentrate on products with sufficient differentiation and margins to absorb freight, tariffs and distributor costs.

Pharmaceuticals demonstrate both the opportunity and the challenge. Nigeria imported approximately US$766 million in pharmaceuticals in 2025, with India supplying roughly US$394 million and China US$131 million. Ghana imported approximately US$301 million, with India supplying about US$140 million.

Sri Lanka cannot simply offer another generic product and expect to beat India on price. We must identify specialised products, reliable supply arrangements, partnerships and, where commercially justified, local production or packaging.

Stop Promoting Sectors—Identify Products

Sri Lanka now needs an Africa Export Opportunity Study based on individual products, not broad sectors.

The Export Development Board, Foreign Ministry, chambers and private sector should jointly identify 15–20 priority products. For each product, Sri Lanka should calculate the HS code, African annual import demand, principal suppliers, Chinese and Indian market shares, applicable duties, freight from Colombo, regulatory requirements, distributor margins and final landed price.

That will tell us where Sri Lanka genuinely has a competitive advantage.

The Commercial Test

Before spending resources promoting a product, apply one simple test:

African import demand + Sri Lankan production capability + tariff + freight + distributor margin + regulatory cost = final landed competitiveness against China, India and local African production.

Only products that pass this test should receive concentrated export-promotion resources.

This would move Sri Lanka away from exhibitions, delegations and general discussions towards what ultimately matters: specific products, specific buyers, specific distributors and actual export orders.

Give Our Missions Targets

Commercial diplomacy must become results-driven. The Government should set clear annual trade and investment targets for every Sri Lankan mission in Africa.

Missions should be evaluated not merely on diplomatic activity, but on buyers and distributors identified, business introductions made, investments facilitated, market barriers resolved and measurable exports generated.

In a competitive Africa, our missions must become active economic frontlines not merely diplomatic outposts.

A practical strategy could operate through three commercial gateways: Nairobi for East and Central Africa, Accra for selected West African markets and Lagos for Nigeria.

Sri Lanka’s total exports of goods and services reached approximately US$17.25 billion in 2025. Capturing even a small additional share of Africa’s enormous import market could, therefore, make a meaningful contribution to export earnings, investment and foreign-exchange generation.

Africa Will Not Wait

Sri Lankan exporters must stop looking at Africa as a distant or difficult market and start treating it as a strategic growth market.

We cannot compete with China and India on scale, but we can compete on quality, specialisation, flexibility and reliability. Exporters must identify country-specific opportunities, establish strong local distributors, build partnerships with African businesses and use Sri Lankan companies already operating on the continent as gateways into regional supply chains.

Where freight and tariffs weaken competitiveness, businesses must be prepared to move towards local assembly, joint ventures and manufacturing in Africa. Exporters cannot do it alone. They need aggressive, measurable and results-driven commercial diplomacy from Sri Lanka’s missions.

Africa is buying. Its markets are being captured now. Sri Lanka must stop watching from the sidelines. We must enter, compete, build our presence and secure our share.

(Ambassador Kana Kananathan is a businessman, Diplomat, lobbyist and an expert in African affairs, with over four decades of experience on the African continent. A long-time resident of Africa, he served as Sri Lanka’s envoy to Uganda and Kenya, with concurrent accreditation to 22 African Nations, and was the permanent representative to UN Habitat and UN environmental Programme. Over the years, he has been the Elections Monitor across the continent, working closely with African governments, and built enduring partnerships with African leaders. He also served as Economic and Investments Advisor to former President Professor Alpha Condé of the Republic of Guinea)

Features

Memories and Midnight Magic: Recipe for a perfect 31st Night dance

Published

35 mins ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

The heart of a great 31st Night dance is memory, and memories come rushing back when those 70s, 80s and 90s golden oldies begin to play — those timeless tunes that make revellers, young and old, rush to the floor and dance the night away.

A perfect 31st Night is not just a party. It is a journey. A journey through time.

The music should flow like a love story. Start slow, start soft. Let couples glide into a waltz for romance. Let the floor come alive with a twist, a rock ‘n’ roll, a jive. Let nostalgia build with beautiful sing-along oldies generally associated with a New Year’s Eve dance.

This is the art that many of our entertainers seem to have forgotten.

The final hour, before midnight, is sacred. It should be collective energy at its peak. The entire crowd, on the dance floor, linking arms, swaying together, singing, at the top of their voices, those sing-along favourites.

Yes, I’m referring to those immortal, nostalgic favourites that unite the world: ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ ‘When The Saints Go Marching In,’ ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’ ‘Celebration,’ ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain,’ ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’ and so many more.

One wonders if some of our modern entertainers have even heard of these nostalgia anthems that traditionally lead up to the dawning of the New Year! This is not just music; this is ritual.

Then comes THE moment: Lights dim. Music pauses. A hush falls. The countdown begins — 10, 9, 8… — hugs, wishes, tears of joy, and then … ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ Hands crossed, voices united, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. That moment makes or breaks the night.

Here is the truth that many genuine 31st Night revellers feel but hesitate to say — an overdose of baila music at New Year’s Eve events is NOT welcome.

Of course, baila is required. Baila is our Sri Lankan heartbeat! But a 31st Night dance is for everyone.

When it’s ONLY baila, the twist and rock n’ roll lovers, the waltz kings and queens feel left out. And they are the very people who MADE nostalgia! They are the die-hard revellers who have kept the 31st Night spirit alive for decades.

A family mentioned to me that they went along with friends for a 31st Night dance, in the city, to usher in 2026, and were thoroughly disappointed with the setup.

The bands in attendance, they said, failed to generate the excitement generally associated with a 31st Night event.

If given a free hand, the music at certain Colombo venues will be mostly baila, and that is going to disappoint many. Some are already worried that it will be just a baila scene this year, as well.

A memorable 31st Night respects all rhythms … yes, a waltz for romance, a twist and rock n’ roll for that 60s magic, a cha-cha, a slow foxtrot, and then the baila, after the countdown anthem.

That balance is what makes it inclusive, classy, and truly fun-filled.

Organisers, especially in Colombo, should keep this in mind: let it be 70% nostalgia – Western, and 30% baila, with the last hour left for pure baila madness, after the New Year is in!

Organisers must work out the programme for their 31st Night and instruct the entertainers to follow those instructions. The band should not dictate the night; the spirit of nostalgia should.

This New Year, let’s give Colombo what it truly wants — memories, midnight magic, and music for every soul on the floor.

Let’s dance into 2027 with class.