Nairobiculture & etiquette

Kenyan law requires every foreign national residing here beyond 90 days to hold a foreign nationals certificate — the alien card. Visitors on a pass for three months or less are exempt, as are diplomats, serving military and registered refugees. It is an obligation triggered by the length of your stay, not a waiting period you have to sit out, so apply through the eFNS portal as soon as you hold valid status rather than counting days. Get it moving early: it needs biometrics in person and can take weeks, and the KRA PIN — and therefore banking, leases and utilities — sits behind either this card or a passport-endorsed work permit.

Kenya invented mobile money and the country runs on it. Rent, groceries, market stalls, taxis, splitting a bill — all M-Pesa. A resident without it is doing everything the hard way, and it's tied to your SIM, so it's one of the first things to arrange.

Nairobi has real property crime and locals manage it with routine: don't display phones in traffic, use ride-hailing after dark, keep car doors locked, and ask colleagues which areas to avoid at which hours. Adopt the local norms and daily life is unremarkable.

At roughly 1,795 metres on the equator, Nairobi has spring-like days and genuinely cold evenings. Newcomers pack for tropical Africa and spend their first month cold. Bring layers and something warm for June and July.

Nairobi congestion is severe and unpredictable. Meetings drift, and a 10km trip can take ninety minutes. Locals plan around it rather than fighting it, and working from home on the worst days is normal.

Social events start later than stated, often substantially. Business meetings are more punctual but still looser than northern European norms. Confirm the same morning rather than assuming a two-week-old arrangement holds.