Lessons Kenya can take from Azerbaijan

An aerial view of electric cables on November 21, 2024 in Mathare slums. [File, Standard]

Kenya is urbanising at a higher rate than the global average, mainly due to high population growth.

According to World Bank data for 2023, Kenya`s urbanisation rate stands at 3.8 per cent compared to the global average of 1.7 per cent.

The country`s urban centres continue to witness high population which has contributed to the two per cent growth per annum in population, way ahead of the global average of 0.9 per cent.

Whereas urbanising and population growth are generally good things, this has created a housing crisis in the cities.

In 2002, when Nairobi hosted the first World Urban Forum (WUF) that brought together a wide range of stakeholders to explore how to best harness potential of the housing agenda for building safe communities, the city's population stood at 2.38 million.

Now, 23 years down the line, as all roads head to Azerbaijan for the 13th edition of the World Urban Forum next year, Nairobi`s population has more than doubled to 5.7 million, further straining the capital`s housing, with WUF keen to bring solutions to such challenges.

The May 2026 World Urban Forum which is being co-organised by the Government of Azerbaijan and UN-Habitat will focus on "Housing the World - safe and resilient Cities and Communities." A pioneer summit for heads of states and governments focusing on the importance of urban planning for global development is expected to be one of the key components of the WUF13.

While Kenya's housing deficit persists and interventions such as affordable housing project front, in the host nation of the 13th WUF, major reconstruction and rehabilitation programme for the territories liberated following 30 years of occupation by the neighbouring Armenia is underway. Azerbaijan hopes to turn the page on conflict and focus on peace and development in the region.

This comes at a time of a historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia was brokered by the US and signed by both Azerbaijan President and Armenia Prime Minister.

The agreement is set to offer stability and enhance partnership in the region; which will broaden the opportunities for the 13th World Urban Forum.

Lessons for Kenya

Around $477 million was allocated to the programme in the first quarter of 2025, with the total budget of the programme that started in 2020 having already exceeded $10 billion. The return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) dubbed as the "Great Return" has necessitated the urgent need for housing and infrastructure. The government says by the end of 2026, around 140,000 IDPs would have resettled in the area.

For Kenya, the housing deficit is on the rise with many urban areas experiencing a growth in high-density informal settlements. This paints a picture of the disparity between the 250,000 homes per year demand in Kenya and the 50,000 units supply annually.

To worsen the situation, only two per cent of the supplied houses cater for low-income earners, who dominate the population. Efforts by the Kenya Kwanza administration under the affordable housing project are geared towards reducing these disparities with WUF13 set to offer more insights to settle the perennial housing challenges, especially in urban areas.

This is expected to be beneficial at a time the Kenya Urban Authority is pushing counties to increase own-source revenue if they are to solve the urban development crisis.

After hosting COP29 in 2024, Azerbaijan is expected to focus on how Climate Change impacts urban development. This is expected to be one of the key topics during the WUF13, particularly given the fact that the Forum will take place on the eve of World Environment Day 2026, which will also be held in Azerbaijan in June 2026.

National Coordinator of WUF13, Chairperson of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture of Azerbaijan Anar Guliyev has a very good working relations with Alice Wahome, CS for Lands, Public Work and Housing, a relationship that will see Kenya play an important role in the WUF13.

This builds on the first ever visits by Foreign Affairs Minister from Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, Heydar Aliyev Foundation Vice-president Leyla Aliyeva, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan Hon Justice Inam Kerimov, Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev as well as Chairman of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency Orkhan Mammedov.

With over 1.1 billion people living in informal settlements, WUF13 has a critical role of presenting diverse solutions that the world can adopt for safer cities.