BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Kenya is currently implementing the largest housing program on the African continent, Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto said during the Leaders Summit held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Trend reports.
Speaking at the summit, Ruto thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the hospitality and organization of the event.
“We are gathered here today in this magnificent country, at the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku, and I would like to express my gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the warm reception and hospitality shown to us,” he said.
Ruto stressed the global importance of addressing housing challenges, noting that nearly every country faces housing shortages and affordability issues.
“Statistics show that 3 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions, 1 billion people live in slums, and 300 million people are homeless,” he said. “These are not just cold statistics. These are people. These are families. These are children.”
The Kenyan president noted that the right to housing is guaranteed under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but said the scale of the global housing crisis has undermined that principle.
Ruto said Kenya has 1,100 informal settlements housing about 7 million people, prompting the government to make housing a central pillar of its national development agenda.
He identified three major obstacles to housing development in Kenya: land accessibility, construction costs and financing.
According to Ruto, Kenya has built 273,000 housing units over the past three years, with keys already handed over to 8,000 families.
“By the end of this year, another 55,000 families will receive housing keys,” he said. “Currently, we have a project portfolio of 700,000 housing units.”
“I can confidently say that today Kenya is implementing the largest housing program on the African continent,” Ruto added.
