In December, our teams held close‑out events for two of our major FCDO-funded programmes – the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF) and the Reducing Insecurity and Violent Extremism in Northern and Coastal regions of Kenya (REINVENT) – celebrating years of partnership, institutional reform and tangible results.
REINVENT: strengthening community protection and security in Kenya
The REINVENT closing event in Nairobi celebrated the programme’s successes in reducing violence, preventing conflict, and improving security and stability across Kenya’s northern and coastal regions.
Over the seven years, the REINVENT team has worked across the three core workstreams – supporting more accountable and effective police and security services; strengthening the agency women and girls in peace and security to address sexual and gender‑based violence (SGBV); and delivering inter‑ and intra‑institutional commitments to tackle root drivers of conflict.
The highlight of REINVENT’s event was a gallery walk with different desks for each of our workstreams where the key achievements of each ware showcased. In their closing remarks, Dr Raymond Omollo, the Principal Secretary Interior, and Ed Barnett, the British High Commission’s Chargé d’affaires in Nairobi, reflected on the programme’s journey and what the future holds for security in Kenya.
REINVENT achievements
- Reached 2.64 million direct and indirect beneficiaries throughout its lifespan – nearly 5% of Kenya’s total population.
- Worked with 66 police stations and posts.
- Reached 24 out of Kenya’s 47 counties.
- In partnership with the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), and the National Police Service (NPS), IPOA police station inspections rose by 305% (2012-2018, 950 visits; 2019-2024, 3,854 visits) and the ratio of investigations being opened to those being closed increased from 14.6% to 99.6%
- Launched the Mombasa Situation Room with our partner Sauti Ya Wanawake and the Mombasa County Government, a physical space with a toll-free hotline and a full-time team of social workers, that provides psychosocial support, community sensitisation, legal advice, case follow-ups, referrals, mediation, family tracing and reintegration. As a result, reporting increased 41.3% (349 cases in 2020 to 493 in 2024), and counselling support for reported cases rose from 15.8% in 2020 to 75.7% in 2024.
- Supported 94 Security Intelligence Committees across the regional, County, and sub-County levels. The programme has worked with the committees to jointly develop 56 security management and prevention plans.
UKNIAF: sustainable infrastructure that delivers for Nigeria’s people and economy
UKNIAF marked the end of its six‑year programme with a close‑out that reflected on its achievements in strengthening Nigeria’s power sector, building a $7bn climate-smart Public Private Partnership pipeline, and improving infrastructure planning.
The event brought together the FCDO, government partners, private‑sector and other stakeholders – all of whom were instrumental in ensuring the programme’s success – to reflect on progress, the collective effort behind UKNIAF’s journey, and the lessons that will shape future power and infrastructure reforms in Nigeria.
The day featured interactive plenary and panel discussions with remarks from key government and sector partners, setting a strong foundation for the sessions ahead. We reflected on partner stories of institutional change, with contributors sharing their achievements and the programme’s role in strengthening systems across the power, energy, and wider infrastructure sectors, and exploring pathways for the future growth in Nigeria’s infrastructure and power ecosystems.
Among our successes have been:
- Power sector reform in the form of the creation of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), enabling the development of a contract‑based electricity market.
- We delivered a $11 million climate-smart public-private partnership at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, as part of our work to enable scalable infrastructure finance – which is already delivering new facilities at the university.
- We secured $26 million in 2024-25 budgets for Nigeria’s first Project Preparation Facility (PPF) and Pipeline Development
- We supported agro-industrial investment in Kaduna and Oyo States under the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme.
- We promoted renewable energy infrastructure by commercialising mini-grids and scaling operations and maintenance of them.
