Ruto pushes for global financial reforms to solve Africa’s housing crisis

The President said the provision of adequate and affordable housing and sustainable urban development in developing countries, especially in Africa, continues to be undermined by an unfair international financial architecture.

He pointed out that affordable housing in Africa is both urgent and essential because the continent will be home to 25 per cent of the world’s population by 2050, with 70 per cent living in urban areas.

There is, therefore, urgent need to reform the international financial architecture so that it aligns with the realities, needs, and development aspirations of the modern world.

He explained that despite Africa's vast resources and economic potential, the continent still faces limited access to affordable concessional financing, with many countries paying up to five times more for credit than developed nations.

“The paradox is that the countries that need concessional funding the most pay more than the countries that don't need it when they go to the market. That has to be corrected,” he said.

The President spoke during the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum held in Baku, Azerbaijan, bringing together 45,000 participants from 182 countries.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Aleksandar Vučić (Serbia) and Dharambeer Gokhool (Mauritius), and Prime Ministers Olzhas Bektenov (Kazakhstan) and Irakli Kobakhidze (Georgia) were present.

Also at the meeting were King Mswati III of Eswatini, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach, among other leaders. 

At the forum, the President said Kenya’s Affordable Housing Programme continues to gain global recognition as one of Africa’s leading models for sustainable urban development, inclusive growth, and social transformation.

President Ruto noted that today, nearly three billion people across the world are affected by inadequate housing, Mlmore than one billion live in slums and informal settlements, while over 300 million are homeless.

He said Kenya is taking proactive measures to ensure Kenyans have adequate affordable housing units.

He said Kenya has 1,100 informal settlements, with seven million residents, a situation that led the government to make the bold decision to make the affordable housing a central pillar of national transformation.

To ensure the success of the programme, he said, the government addressed the challenge of land by making public land available for the project free of charge, automatically reducing the cost of housing by 30 per cent.

Additionally, the President said the government negotiated with relevant professionals and reduced professional fees from 10 per cent to 2.5 per cent of the total cost. 

In turn, the government offered building and construction professionals incentives to build more than 3,000 houses a year, up from 10 or 20 annually, as well as standardising construction materials to enable mass production.

To address the funding challenge, he explained, Kenya established the Affordable Housing Fund using locally mobilised resources to create a stable financing mechanism for housing development.

President Ruto announced that the fund has signed housing projects worth $5 billion (KSh650 billion) in completed and ongoing projects in the past 35 months.

This has led to growth of many enterprises and boosted manufacturing across the country.

“In the past three years, we have built 273,000 housing units, 8,000 house keys handed over, while 55,000 keys will be handed over by the end of this year. In the pipeline, we have  700,000 housing units,” he said.

The President also disclosed that the programme has employed 640,000 young people and is on course to increase the number to one million workers by 2027.

Additionally, he said the programme is eradicating slums and will eventually curb land fragmentation, ensuring adequate agricultural land for farming.

Thanks to the affordable projects, President Ruto said, Kenya has the largest housing programme in Africa.

The President also called for reform of the United Nations Security Council, saying it was unfair that 1.5 billion people across 54 African countries do not have representation.

He said the bigger paradox is that 60 per cent of the agenda of the Security Council concerns African issues, yet these are discussed without African representation.

“For the survival of the UN, there must be reform that corrects this anomaly so that the UN becomes representative, democratic and brings on board the view of Africa,” he said.

On his part, President Aliyev called on world leaders to be brave and cautious, urging a delicate balance in urban planning and development and protecting cities' architectural heritage. 

“And today, by organising this global gathering, we once again demonstrate our strong commitment to urban planning and urban development,” he said.

Ms Rossbach announced that the forum’s discussions will culminate in the adoption of the Baku Call to Action, which will establish a shared global vision for inclusive and sustainable cities.