Azerbaijan opens Nairobi embassy as it marks 20 years of ties with Kenya

Azerbaijan is strengthening its two-decade-old diplomatic ties with Kenya by opening an embassy in Nairobi this week, aligning with President William Ruto’s push to diversify Kenya’s international partnerships.

The embassy, inaugurated on Tuesday, is a visible sign of Azerbaijan's ambitions to strengthen its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa.

The South Caucasus nation, with a GDP of approximately $81 billion and a per capita income of $8,000 (World Bank 2023), is known for its oil and gas exports but has in recent years expanded its outreach into sectors such as education, culture, and sports diplomacy.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who joined Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov at the ceremony, emphasised Kenya's readiness to collaborate across a range of sectors.

"We held a successful inaugural Kenya-Azerbaijan Bilateral Political Consultations last month in Nairobi," Mudavadi said, "and the discussions revolved around a wide range of topics, including trade and investment, agriculture, energy, education, defence, industry, multilateral cooperation, and peace and security."

Mudavadi assured that Kenya would "implement the agreed action points, including accelerating the finalisation of pending Memoranda of Understanding and initiating MoUs in ICT, Education, and Defence."

Favourable environment

Bayramov praised Kenya's facilitation of the embassy's establishment, calling it a "favourable environment" that "created the conditions for the proper functioning of the diplomatic mission."

He also highlighted Kenya's youth and innovation, saying: "We have interacted with Kenya's policies on youth, culture, and sports. We are thrilled by how Kenya manages to integrate its policies with the real expectations of the citizens. We look forward to learning and collaborating on this front."

The Azerbaijani minister added that Baku is exploring ways to strengthen education diplomacy: "We are working towards establishing a partnership framework that will see us offering specialised courses for young diplomats from Kenya."

Mudavadi noted the importance of collaboration on global governance issues such as climate change and commended Azerbaijan for hosting COP-29 in Baku last year.

"It is our conviction as Africans that Nairobi, as the headquarters of UNEP, would be the natural home for the Global Plastic Treaty Secretariat," Mudavadi said.

He also invited Azerbaijan to co-sponsor two resolutions Kenya plans to table at the 7th United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi in December 2025—one on artificial intelligence and another on sports and the environment.

Azerbaijan, a country many Kenyans might struggle to locate on a map, is wedged between Russia and Iran in the South Caucasus.

The oil-rich nation exports primarily crude petroleum, natural gas, and refined petroleum, with Italy, Turkey, and India among its top markets.

Other Topics To Read

• National
• Baku
• Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijan Nairobi embassy
• South Caucasus
• Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
• Global Plastic Treaty Secretariat
• Azerbaijan opens Nairobi embassy as it marks 20 years of ties with Kenya
• Headlines

Its growing global reach, evident in this Nairobi embassy, highlights Baku's strategic outreach amid shifting global alliances.