Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenyan President William Ruto announced that his country currently has the largest housing program in Africa, noting that the value of investments mobilized for the project amounts to approximately 5 billion US dollars, with the initiative continuing to expand and grow.
Ruto made the statements during his participation in the leaders’ summit at the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), held in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, where he affirmed that Kenya aims to present affordable housing as a model for sustainable urban development in Africa.
Prior reports indicated, before the Kenyan president’s arrival in Baku, his intention to showcase his country’s experience in affordable housing and urban redevelopment to the participants of the global forum.
According to a statement issued by the spokesperson for the Kenyan presidential palace, Hussein Mohammed, Kenya was invited to participate in the forum in recognition of the progress it has made in affordable housing programs and urban rehabilitation projects.
During his speech at the summit, Ruto described the existence of around 1,100 informal settlements in the country, inhabited by nearly 7 million people, as an “unacceptable and unsustainable” situation, emphasizing that his government has launched an ambitious project to create the largest housing program in Africa to address the housing crisis and improve living conditions.
The Kenyan president stated via his account on platform X that his country will continue to implement the affordable housing program to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their social or economic backgrounds, have access to decent and dignified housing.
He added that the Kenyan government has successfully built 273,000 housing units over the past three years, noting that 8,000 units have already been delivered, while the government is preparing to deliver an additional 55,000 units before the end of the current year, in addition to executing projects that include about 700,000 other housing units under construction.
Ruto confirmed that Kenya now possesses “the largest housing program on the African continent,” explaining that his country has managed, through the local housing fund, to mobilize 5 billion dollars from local resources without resorting to borrowing from the World Bank or any other international financial institution.
The Kenyan president pointed out that the project has contributed to providing extensive job opportunities, creating jobs for about 640,000 young men and women, in addition to architects and professionals in various sectors, noting that the government aims to reach one million employed individuals in the near future.
The leaders’ summit is one of the new additions to the 13th session of the World Urban Forum, which will be held from May 17 to 22, 2026, organized jointly by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the Azerbaijani government, aiming to gather heads of state and government, ministers, and mayors to discuss urban issues, housing, and sustainable urban development.
For his part, Anar Guliyev, head of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture in Azerbaijan and the national coordinator of the World Urban Forum, confirmed that the forum represents an important international platform for shaping a shared vision for the future of cities, enhancing international partnerships, and implementing sustainable development goals and the new urban agenda.
