The AICS Nairobi Office is responsible for Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania (AICS priority countries) and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries present a highly diverse development landscape, ranging from those experiencing strong growth and moving towards solid development to countries facing economic, environmental, and humanitarian challenges.
Following the model of the AICS Headquarters in Rome, the Nairobi office is organized into thematic units operating across the four countries, acknowledging that many of the issues addressed have a regional dimension. The teams are structured according to the following thematic areas: infrastructure and urban development, rural development and environment, private sector, women’s empowerment and civil society support, health, and emergency, working in synergy with the institutional relations and communication units.
In Kenya, development cooperation activities were formalized in 1985 and further strengthened through the multiannual “Kenya-Italy Sustainable Development Partnership” (2023–2027), signed by both Parties during the visit of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in March 2023. The Agency’s action in the country focuses on three strategic pillars of the 2030 Agenda: Planet, People and Prosperity.
Under the Planet Pillar, AICS promotes climate and environmental resilience through reforestation projects, sustainable natural resource management and agricultural development in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL), while also supporting sustainable urban planning and the strengthening of local governments.
Under the People Pillar, the Agency is engaged in combating gender-based violence, supporting women’s empowerment, and improving access to essential health services, with a particular focus on maternal and child health. Since May 2025, AICS Nairobi has served as Chair of the Development Partners’ Gender Group, a strategic coordination and dialogue forum on gender issues, comprising donors, international agencies, government authorities, and civil society.
As for the Prosperity Pillar, Italian Cooperation supports local entrepreneurship and job creation, with a particular focus on small and medium enterprises, artisan cooperatives, and vocational training.
In Somalia, which in 2023 became one of the countries under the responsibility of AICS Nairobi, is currently at the centre of renewed Italian Cooperation engagement, supporting the country’s challenging path towards institutional and socio-economic reconstruction. Historically active in the health sector, AICS continues to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and WHO to promote universal health coverage, supporting strategic facilities such as the De Martino Hospital in Mogadishu. Under the People Pillar, Italian Cooperation also contributes to strengthening higher education, particularly through collaboration with the Somali National University.
For the Peace Pillar, implementation continues of the “Towards Peace and Stability in Somalia (TPSS)” programme, managed by the Office of the Prime Minister, which in 2024 launched a new phase of needs assessments in areas liberated from Al-Shabaab.
Under the Prosperity Pillar, AICS supports the development of the Somali economy both through strengthening macroeconomic capacities in collaboration with the IMF and the World Bank, and through direct interventions in favour of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Finally, under the Partnerships Pillar, Italian Cooperation participates in multilateral instruments such as the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (OCHA), complementing emergency interventions with development initiatives and promoting an integrated approach involving Italian CSOs, universities, and the private sector.
In Tanzania, a priority country under the Mattei Plan, as is Kenya, Italian Cooperation focuses its activities on the People and Partnerships pillars. Key interventions have addressed: education and vocational training to support youth access to the labour market; health, with a focus on maternal and child health and the fight against communicable diseases (tuberculosis, malaria, HIV); and food security, through the strengthening of sustainable agricultural productivity and the reduction of malnutrition. Italian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are actively engaged across the country in projects ranging from health to human rights, from the inclusion of persons with disabilities to agricultural development. Since 2025, the country has become a priority for AICS.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Italian Cooperation has been present since 2008, activities focus on the People Pillar, with humanitarian emergency interventions, improving access to essential services and strengthening protection for vulnerable groups, through an integrated Humanitarian–Development–Peace approach, consistent with UN and EU strategies.