KARIBU KENYA - UNON - the United Nations Office at Nairobi

Society offers an annual ‘Know Kenya Course’, which usually runs for eight
days in late October or early November. The course is a perfect way for
newcomers to learn about the country’s fascinating history, geography,
ethnography and culture through a rich variety of lectures, films and tours of
sites around Nairobi.The Museum Society also offers day trips to city sights
such as the Railway Museum and Arboretum, and a monthly ‘Weekend
Outing’ to prehistoric sites and areas of natural beauty outside Nairobi. For
more details on all these programmes, call the museum on 3742131/3743808
or visit www.kenyamuseumsociety.org.
Banking
UN employees and their family members are entitled to open personal
accounts with the United Nations Federal Credit Union, which offers
competitive banking terms and has a permanent liaison office on the Lower
Concourse at the UN Gigiri Complex.The branch also has an ATM offering
US dollars to holders of major credit cards.Visit www.unfcu.com for more information.
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) is the officially appointed locally based
bank at the UN Gigiri Complex, and offers banking services to all UN staff
members, provided that they maintain a minimum balance of Ksh 10,000 in
their accounts. Accounts in US dollars are also available at KCB’s UN Gigiri
Complex branch, which is based on the Lower Concourse.
Other convenient local banks include Barclays Bank of Kenya, which has
a Prestige Centre for its Prestige Plus account holders at the Warwick Centre,
and the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), which has branches at ICRAF
and the Village Market. Barclays and Standard Chartered also have ATMs at
the Village Market.
Most of the major banks are open from 8am to 3pm from Monday to
Friday, and from 8am to 11am on Saturdays. KCB at the UN Gigiri Complex
offers a special ‘late service’ until 4pm on weekdays, while CBA has two city
branches that stay open until 8pm. Barclays, National Bank of Kenya and
Transnational Bank all have branches in the International Arrivals hall at
JKIA, which offer 24-hour money changing services seven days a week.
While only a few shops in Nairobi accept personal cheques, most of the
larger shops, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants accept major credit cards
such as Visa, American Express and Mastercard. Cards linked to overseas
accounts can also be used to withdraw local currency at the ATMs of the
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