• RURAL DEVELOPMENT
  • SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
  • SECURITY, RECONSTRUCTION AND PEACE
  • SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
  • GOVERNANCE AND DEMOCRACY
  • ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
  • ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

Kenya

GIZ local staff

National employees: 374
International employees: 49 
Development workers: 15
Integrated experts: 11

(as at: 31.12.2023)  

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working in Kenya since 1975. The GIZ office is located in the capital, Nairobi.

Ranked by the World Bank as a lower middle income country, Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy and one of the leading economies in Africa. A robust private sector, investment in infrastructure and a growing middle class have all contributed to the country’s development, helped further by its decentralised system of governance and relative political stability. Kenya has set itself the goal of becoming an upper middle income country by 2030. Nonetheless, the country continues to face many challenges. More than a third of its population lives below the poverty line. Young people, in particular, have difficulty in finding a job. Agriculture contributes about 20 per cent of the gross domestic product and provides employment for a large part of the population. However, the sector is suffering from the effects of climate change and needs to modernise further. Kenya would also like to increase its power supply and switch completely to renewable energy.

On behalf of the German Government, GIZ works with national, international and private sector partners in Kenya. Its main commissioning party is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 
The priority areas are:

  • Sustainable economic development and employment promotion
  • Agriculture and food security
  • Renewable energy and climate change

In the area of sustainable economic development, GIZ supports vocational education and training for youths and young adults. The goal is to equip young people with skills for the job market, especially for private sector jobs. Activities include upgrading training institutions, involving companies in practical and cooperative vocational training schemes, and supporting start-up centres. 

With the aim of increasing employment and food security in the agriculture sector, GIZ promotes innovative technologies, which will increase productivity and improve market access. Vocational training for farmers is also being promoted.

GIZ is also helping to improve access to sustainable and reliable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Kenya. To this end, it will create an enabling environment for modernising the energy market and promoting innovations in the energy sector. 

GIZ also promotes good governance and the fight against corruption, peacebuilding and migration management in the country, and supports efforts to help displaced persons and host communities. Diverse regional development programmes that focus on the environment and sport are also being implemented in Kenya. In this context, digitalisation is becoming increasingly important in several sectors.

Projects and Programmes

Additional information

Our feature projects

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Our references

Sub-Saharan Africa: More jobs, higher incomes