9th Africities Summit begins in Kenya
The 9th Africities Summit will begin today in Kisumu, Kenya and run until May 21.
The summit’s theme is “The Role of African Intermediary Cities in the Implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063” – and accordingly, is being held in an intermediary city—cities with a population between 0.5 to 1 million. Kisumu County’s governor, Professor Anyang Nyong’o, stated that Kisumu represents an excellent model for the effects of devolution on socio-economic and political development in Kenya. This has come on the back of discussions around greater local government autonomy at the 8th edition of the Africities summit. Since then, Kisumu has developed the Kisumu Local Economic Development Plan, which has allowed the local government to more autonomously assess future economic planning.
Given the thematic focus on the UN’s 2030 Agenda and AU’s Agenda 2063, expect the summit to feature a greater focus on sustainable development, as well as showcasing intermediary cities as platforms for modeling development benchmarks in line with the agendas. Expect that the summit will call for greater green investment toward sustainable development.
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