SECOND AFRICA URBAN FORUM NAIROBI DECLARATION | 8–10 April 2026

PREAMBLE

We, the member states of the African Union and participants of the Second Africa Urban Forum (AUF2) convened in Nairobi by the African Union Commission , and hosted by the Government of Kenya from 8 to 10 April 2026;

Express our profond gratitude to the People and Government of Kenya for their hospitality and for hosting this Second Africa Urban Forum ;

Acknowledging that Africa’s rapid Urbanisation , coupled with insufficient formal and affordable housing and inadequate infrastructure provision, has contributed to the growth of informal settlements, rising urban poverty, and increased housing insecurity;

Recognizing that, on the other hand urbanization is not only the future, , but the best thing that ever happened to the environment,an opportunity that must be harnessed for the present and future structural transformation of Africa, where the bulk of GDP, wealth and prosperity are produced, and most people live at a minimal scale of impact to the environment;

Recognizing the innovative & productive role of informal housing, rental markets, and local financing mechanisms;

Acknowledging that the Africa We Want by 2063 is dependent on how African cities are planned, governed, and managed so that they become true engines of economic growth, social inclusion, and sustainable development;

Acknowledging that, youth unemployment, person with disabilities, women and other disadvantaged group are disproportionately affected by inadequate housing and limited access to Urban Services, and that is a pre-requisite for equitable and sustainable growth

Conscious of the persistent infrastructure challenges, including housing shortages, informal settlements, infrastructure deficits, financing gaps environmental degradation, and social inequalities that impede growth and well-being across the continent;

Reaffirming the commitments of Agenda 2063, the New Urban Agenda, the SDGs, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Maputo Declaration (2009), the STC 8 Brazzaville Declaration (2014), the STC 8 Cairo Declaration (2022), and the AUF1 Addis Ababa Declaration (2024);

Recalling the African Union Framework for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the Africa Urban Resilience Programme, the Building Climate Resilience for the Urban Poor (BCRUP) and the SDGs;

Recalling key continental initiatives and frameworks aiming at transforming the continental economic systems and to foster economic trade and movement such as the ACFTA, the PIDA, the Africa digital transformation strategy;

Acknowledging that Africa faces a housing deficit exceeding 50 million units, requiring urgent and concerted continental action to halve this gap by 2035;

Mindful of the resolution HSP/H.A2/RES7 of the United Nations Human Settlements Assembly establishing the Open-Ended Working Group on Adequate Housing for all championed by Kenya and France;

Mindful that sustainable urbanization demands an all-of-government, all-of-society approach and multi-level, multi-sector partnerships, and that moving from dialogue to measurable implementation is now imperative;

Recognizing Kenya's leadership as AUF2 host and its role as a global champion for affordable, inclusive, and climate-resilient housing, offering its policy innovations, pilot projects, and institutional reforms as a platform for south-south cooperation;

Aware of the subnational and local governments' leading role in managing the urban challenge on the ground, which calls for their empowerment in terms of land-use planning, delivery of affordable housing, implementation of disaster integrated and resilient urban infrastructure and equipment, fiscal capacity, and access to finance;

Committing to empowering subnational governments as, fiscally capable actors to deliver sustainable and bankable urban development; Cities and regions cannot deliver without sustainable finance;

Appreciating the innovation and investment being driven by individuals and businesses both formally and informally in responding to particular niche markets that together build the delivery and management value chains that lead to sustainable human settlements;

Acknowledging the pivotal role of the private sector, development partners, and other relevant stakeholders in strengthening resource mobilization and catalyzing bankable investments to bridge the housing deficit across the region;

We Commit to the following time-bound, action-oriented priorities

Political Commitment & Policy Reform

  1. Prioritise housing in national development plans and NDCs by updating urban planning regulations, developing integrated housing policies aligned with national urban strategies, and embedding housing interventions in fiscal frameworks.

  2. Support the global championship on affordable housing led by Kenya and to elevate it at the continental level under the framework of the African Union.

  3. Endorse the Africa Affordable Housing Compact as a continental platform uniting governments, the private sector, and financial institutions to mobilize innovative financing, drive policy reform, and deliver scalable, safe and climate-resilient housing solutions that advance the right to adequate housing for all Africans.

  4. Strengthen AU-STC8 and its Secretariat as the primary anchor for sustainable urban development,cross-sectoral AU mechanism, and an enhanced role for AUDA/NEPAD linked to PIDA.

  5. Call on the AU Executive Council to designate Managing Urbanization for Structural Transformation as a priority AU theme within the next planning cycle, dedicating a Heads of State summit session to housing and urbanization in Africa.

  6. Embed urban innovation programmes in national R&D strategies, aligning investment priorities with sustainable urban development goals.

Land, Infrastructure & Supply

  1. Advance land reforms and operationalize land-value capture to unlock serviced land for affordable housing along urban corridors, aligning transport, energy, and water investments with housing supply.

  2. Reform land tenure systems to provide secure and investable tenure for all households, including those in informal settlements

  3. Elevate informal settlements as a central priority in national and local development plans, ensuring that upgrading strategies, participatory planning, and tenure security for informal settlement dwellers are explicitly mainstreamed across landuse frameworks, infrastructure investment programmes, and housing finance mechanisms.

  4. Mandate cross-ministerial housing taskforces (planning, housing, transport, finance, industry) to sequence public investments, streamline approvals, and mobilize blended financing under the stewardship of Ministries of Finance.

  5. Mainstream climate-smart construction standards and digital land administration in public housing procurement. Accelerate e-permitting, digital cadastres, open urban data, and GIS-based planning across African cities.

  6. Mandate cross-ministerial housing taskforces (planning, housing, transport, finance, industry) to sequence public investments, streamline approvals, and mobilize blended financing

  7. Modernise property tax bases to generate own-source revenues and introduce land-value capture instruments — including betterment levies and tax-increment financing — in secondary cities and corridor zones to channel infrastructure gains into public benefit.

  8. Leverage the AfCFTA as a catalyst to drive industrialization in the housing and urban development sector, enhancing cross-border trade and investment in building materials across the region

  9. Launch a continental research programme, co-led by African universities and municipalities, to develop context-specific technological, institutional, and financial solutions for Africa’s urbanization — replacing ill-suited imported models — and present outcomes at WUF13 in Baku.

Intergovernmental Fiscal Reform and Capital Market & Concessional Finance Access

  1. Legislate predictable fiscal transfers and ring-fenced housing and infrastructure grants to subnational governments, aligned with actual urban service delivery mandates.

  2. Champion housing as an economic driver by promoting a macro framework that lowers capital costs, manages forex risk, and mobilises local institutional investors — including pension funds — into affordable housing.

  3. Implement transparent intergovernmental resource-sharing mechanisms that empower locally determined investment priorities.

  4. Enable cities to adopt sound financial management systems, modernise revenue streams, conduct regular credit ratings, and access debt markets, municipal bonds, and risk-sharing facilities.

  5. Expand housing micro finance, home improvement loans, and rental finance mechanisms that are accessible to informal sector actors and low-income households.

  6. Attract and retain professional municipal staff, bolstering technical capacity to build strong investment pipelines, accelerate project delivery, sustain lifecycle maintenance, and strengthen monitoring and evaluation.

  7. Enable cities to access green climate finance, special purpose vehicles, and DFI funding, while creating regulatory environments that attract public-private partnerships for housing, infrastructure, and urban services.

National Urban Policies & Territorial Plans

  1. Require every Member State to adopt or update a National Urban Policy and Territorial Plan, integrating housing targets, land-use strategies, climate resilience, and infrastructure investment in a single spatial framework, validated through participatory processes.

  2. Align National Urban Policies with the Harmonized Regional Framework for the NUA in Africa, the Africa Urban Resilience Programme including integration with NDCs, and report biannually to AU-STC8 on implementation progress.

  3. Develop integrated urban corridor masterplans in cross-border regional corridors, sequencing transport, energy, and water investments to stimulate inclusive economic nodes and affordable housing supply with support from African financial institutions.

  4. Incentivize African city-regions to accelerate AfCFTA realization through coordinated cross-border investment strategies, leveraging agglomeration economies and urban supply chains in conjunction with African financial institutions.

Urban Climate Action

  1. Seize the historic opportunity presented by the hosting of COP32 by Ethiopia — the first Conference of the Parties to be held on African soil under an African Presidency — to amplify Africa’s urban climate voice.

  2. Mobilize urban actors from across the continent, and designate AUF2 as the springboard for a coordinated African Cities at COP32 special event.

  3. Call upon Member States, city networks, development partners and civil society to ensure urban resilience, housing, human settlements, and job creation are placed at the center of Africa’s COP32 agenda and commitments.

  4. Strengthen the urban focus of NDCs to better align local and national actions and improve financing for city-level adaptation and mitigation projects.

  5. Support the implementation of key flagship urban resilience programmes aimed at building climate resilience among urban poor communities across all African cities and other urban areas

Inclusive Communities

  1. Integrate the housing and tenure needs of displaced persons, informal settlement dwellers, migrants, and host communities into national housing policies(Policy making & implementation, ensuring access to basic services and durable solutions to displacement.

  2. Integrate the estimated 80% of Africa’s urban workforce in the informal economy into urban development frameworks by extending social protection, legal recognition, access to finance, skills development, and affordable housing

  3. Institutionalize gender-transformative and disability-inclusive planning processes, ensuring at least 40% female and youth participation in all housing governance bodies.

Monitoring, Reporting & Verification

  1. Adopt a harmonized continental MRV system for housing and urban development, developed with the Statistical Commission for Africa and the Open-Ended Working Group on Adequate Housing, using quantitative and qualitative indicators aligned with the NUA and SDG 11.

  2. Require all Member States to establish and publish national urban implementation progress reports on a biennial basis, tracking commitments made under AUF1, AUF2, and future declarations.

Follow-Up Mechanisms

  • Adopt this AUF2 Nairobi Declaration as Africa’s collective implementation signal on housing and human settlements, anchoring Africa’s engagement at WUF13, the High-Level Review of the NUA in UNGA, and through voluntary local review plans.

  • Commit to actively engaging in the upcoming ten-year review of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), including by contributing coordinated African positions and evidence to ensure that Africa’s urbanization experience, priorities, and progress inform the global assessment and any resulting recommendations or frameworks for accelerated implementation .

  • Commit to contributing actively to World Urban Forums (WUFs) as a platform for advancing Africa’s urban agenda, sharing continental progress and lessons learned, and strengthening partnerships with global actors on sustainable urbanization, housing, and human settlements in support of the New Urban Agenda and SDG 11.

  • Request the African Union Commission to :

    • Develop and Coordinatte a consolidated AUF Implementation Scorecard tracking all Member State commitments on the AU digital platform, and establish a follow-up committee with Kenya and key partners — including UN-Habitat, UNECA, AfDB, DBSA, Shelter Afrique, and UCLGA.

    • Convene a mid-term AUF2 implementation review in 2028, through national urban forums and regional peer reviews, to assess progress, share lessons, and recalibrate commitments. iii) Ensure Reporting mechanisms to STC 8 and the AU Executive Council on progress, challenges and lessons learned

  • National Governments

    • Align National Policies & fiscal support with Local Governments priorities, ensuring the predictability of transfers and enabling conditions for housing investment

    • Facilitate regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building initiatives that support incremental housing development and inclusive urban growth

  • City, Local & Regional Governments

    • Engage communities and informal sector actors as partners in housing delivery and urban Planning.

    • Implement participatory planning and localised data collection systems to inform policy, monitor performance and optimise resources allocation

  • Civil Society, Academia, Private Sector

    • Participate actively in reform coalitions, multi stakeholder forums, and community-led development initiatives

    • Provide Technical Expertise, research, and investment capital to scale sustainable and inclusive housing solutions

  • International Development Partners

    • Support Financing, technical assistance, and knowledge sharing aligned with the realities of Africa’s Urban Development

    • Facilitate cross-country learning, blended finance instruments, and targeted support for marginalised populations

Adopt this AUF2 Nairobi Declaration, committing Africa to measurable, time-bound action to achieve adequate, affordable, inclusive, and climate-resilient housing and sustainable urban development for all.