UK envoy Neil Wigan set to depart Nairobi after landing new plum job
A successor to the envoy, who arrived in Kenya in August 2023, will be announced in the coming months
British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan has announced his departure from Nairobi at the end of this month after two years in Nairobi to take up the new position of Director General Strategy and Delivery at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London.
Reflecting on his time in Kenya, Wigan said: “I am extremely sorry to be leaving Kenya after a whirlwind two years. The Kenya-UK partnership has gone from strength to strength – whether in trade, investment, technology, innovation or cultural links, benefitting both countries and peoples.”
“Since I arrived in 2023, the close partnership between our two great nations has seen the historic visit of His Majesty King Charles III, the signing of the new Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership, Kenyan marines trained by the UK, vital infrastructure investments including Nairobi Railway City and so much more,” he noted.
“I have also seen first hand the incredible potential of Kenya and her people. From taking part in a Maasai elders meeting, to seeing how UK support is helping establish women-led businesses in Wajir, from the tea plantations of Bomet County to the Silicon Savannah, I’ve no doubt that Kenya’s future is bright. I have visited most of Kenya’s counties – I am sorry not have visited them all,” the envoy added.
“Kenya and the UK are going far, together, and it has been incredibly rewarding to be part of that journey. Asanteni sana na kwaherini.”
A successor to Wigan, who arrived in Kenya in August 2023, will be announced in the coming months, the British High Commission said in a statement
In the meantime, Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr Ed Barnett, will be Chargé, it added.
While Wigan played a key role in securing the Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership, he was also at the forefront in championing human rights in the country, including condemning excessive use of force by police during protests and abduction of government critics.
The new Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership 2025-2030, which was inked last month between Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, provides comprehensive framework to cooperation in areas such as green growth, climate and nature, science and technology, and security and stability with the aim of creating jobs, enhancing links between academics, innovators and scientists, and protecting the environment, nature and the people.
It will see Lloyd’s of London enter the Nairobi insurance market as a gateway to the East Africa Market valued up to Ksh 88 billion (Sh88 billion).
Over the next five years, Kenya and the UK will also deliver on high value investment deals of mutual benefit to both economies.
This includes Nairobi Railway City, a flagship project, which exemplifies what is possible when ambition meets partnership. Railway City is worth up to Sh26 billion (£150 million) with the potential for 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Kenya. Projects in the first phase range from commercial real estate and hospitality to tech innovation and student housing.
Previously, Neil was Ambassador to the State of Israel from June 2019 to June 2023. He also served as Director for Africa at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) from November 2015 to September 2018, British Ambassador to Somalia from June 2013 to July 2015, and British Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo from March 2010 to March 2013.
Neil has also worked in the Cabinet Office, working for the Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Adviser, and on Middle Eastern and EU economic issues within the FCO.
He has a BA from Oxford University, an MSc in Economics from the University of London and did postgraduate studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Before joining the FCO, he worked at the Bank of England and as an economist in the private sector.
