Excellencies,

Honorable Ministers,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good morning, and welcome to Nairobi for the Second Africa Urban Forum. It is a great honor for Kenya to host this important gathering at a time when urbanization is rapidly shaping the future of our continent. Across Africa, our cities are growing at an unprecedented pace, and this rapid growth brings both immense opportunity and complex challenges.
2. This Forum comes at a critical moment. The decisions we make, the partnerships we build, and the commitments we advance here will play a defining role in determining whether our cities become engines of inclusion, resilience, and shared prosperity; or whether existing inequalities deepen.
3. Kenya is proud to be part of this collective effort. Under the leadership of His Excellency, President William Ruto — the UN-Habitat Global Champion for Adequate Housing — we have placed housing and urban development at the center of our national development agenda, recognizing that this is not only a social imperative, but also a key driver of economic transformation.

Excellencies,

4. The Africa Urban Forum provides us with a platform not only to reflect, but also to act and to move from dialogue to delivery, and finally to implementation. It is therefore my distinct honor to invite a leader who continues to play a central role in advancing Kenya’s engagement on regional and global platforms, and in strengthening our partnerships across the continent.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

5. Please join me in welcoming the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Honorable Musalia Mudavadi, to deliver the Keynote Statement.

Thank you.