Africa International University (originally, Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology – “NEGST”) was born from the dream of one, Byang H. Kato, the first African General Secretary and an outspoken critic of the dangers of syncretism and universalism in the African Church. As NESGT, the institution was accredited and
opened its doors in 1983 when it received the first four students – Boniface Adoyo, Dan Gimadu, Emmanuel Gahamya and Leopold Fullah – under Tony Wilmont, the first principal and Gottfred Ose-Mensah as chair of the board. Among the students admitted in 1984, were David Kasali and Tewoldemedhin Habtu, who were later to become the first Vice Chancellor of AIU, and an associate professor of theology at AIU, respectively.

Since its inception the University’s physical infrastructures have been growing one block at a time; the most recent to come up being the Faculty, and Academic buildings that were constructed in 2003. Historically, the University has had several strong partnerships with organizations such as Overseas Council International (OCI), Hilfe fur Bruder (now co-workers), Christian Leaders for Africa (CLA), Scripture Union, Nairobi Chapel, Anglican Aid, Ulting Trust, Mylene Trust, Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) and Fellowship of Christian Unions (FOCUS), that supported the development of infrastructure and/or scholarships. From its humble beginning, starting with four students, AIU has grown into a chartered university with a student and alumni population of 2,685 and 2956 respectively. In addition, the University currently has a faculty complement of 51, 31 administrative and technical staff, and 46 middle-level clerical and administrative staff all totalling 126