Africa Nazarene University

Africa Nazarene University (ANU) takes pride in its rich history.

ANU is a private Christian university and an institution of the international Church of the Nazarene, whose mission and vision follow the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. The Church of the Nazarene sought to address the challenges witnessed in African society in the early 1980s through an institution of higher education. Due to the Kenya University’s Act of 1985 – provision for establishment of private universities in Kenya – the Church settled on Kenya as a viable location.

In July 1993, the Church granted approval for the establishment of a university in Africa following a unanimous vote by its members during a General Assembly in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The Church, through the university’s founders, pursued negotiations with the Commission of University Education, then the Commission of Higher Education (CHE), to establish a degree awarding institution. On 23 November, 1993, the CHE issued, on behalf of the Kenyan Government, a Letter of Interim Authority to lay the foundation and develop the university. ANU became the first Nazarene university outside North America. It was established to prepare both ministerial and lay leaders for the Church.