NAIROBI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The second Africa Urban Forum opened Wednesday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, with calls to hasten the renewal of the continent's fast-growing cities and towns.
Nearly 10,000 participants, both in person and online, including ministers, city mayors, representatives of multilateral agencies, industry, civil society and academia, are attending the three-day forum to chart a new pathway for the Africa's urban centers.
The forum is hosted by the Kenyan government in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), under the theme of "Adequate Housing for All: Advancing Socio-economic and Environmental Transformation toward the Realization of Agenda 2063."
Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said Africa is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate, with urban population projected to double from the current 700 million to 1.4 billion by 2050.
"This transformation will shape not only the physical form of urban settlements, but the very structure of our economies, the resilience of our societies and the trajectory of our development," he added.
The inaugural Africa Urban Forum, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2024, set the stage for an inclusive continent-wide dialogue to remake cities, already grappling with inadequate shelter, crime, poverty and climatic shocks.
Patience Zanelie Chiradza, director of governance and conflict prevention at the AUC's Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said well-planned cities that provide basic services like housing, clean drinking water, sanitation and green mobility will be key to the realization of Africa's long-term transformation agenda.
Alice Wahome, Kenya's cabinet secretary for lands, public works, housing and urban development, said that governments must prioritize investments in affordable housing, circularity, clean mobility and climate resilience to reinvent urban centers across the continent. ■
