An Azerbaijani delegation met Mombasa County Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir during a visit to Kenya that included the reopening of a renovated Swahili Cultural Library and the launch of a Swahili-language edition of the IRS–Urithi magazine.
The library, located at the Fort Jesus heritage complex in Mombasa, was restored with $50,000 in funding from the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA). The renovation was intended to improve access to historical resources for researchers studying Swahili history and culture.
During the meeting, Nassir thanked the Azerbaijani government for supporting the restoration and welcomed the publication of the first Swahili-language edition of IRS. The governor also highlighted the development of relations between Mombasa County and Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Kenya, Sultan Hajiyev, thanked Kenyan partners, including the governor’s office, for their assistance with the cultural initiatives. He said such projects help strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries.
Education was also discussed. Musa Marjanli, editor-in-chief of IRS and director of the Cultural Heritage Research Center at Baku State University, said two students from Mombasa had enrolled in Azerbaijani higher education institutions in 2026 under the Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant program.
The meeting comes amid wider cultural engagement between Azerbaijan and Kenya. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 2004.
