The 9th edition of Africities summit to be held in Kisumu has been pushed by a month from April to May next year.
The conference was to be held between April 26 and 30 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium. It will now be held from May 17 to 21.
The summit secretariat in Kisumu said the new dates were announced following consultations with the tripartite organising agencies, the national government, the Council of Governors and the Kisumu government.
In a statement, they said the event was postponed as the dates coincided with important international events hosted by the UN-Habitat Board of Directors and the United Nations High-Level Council on the Global Urban Agenda.
These activities will mobilise national governments, local authorities, international organisations, civil society and other key stakeholders that are targets for Africities.
"In addition, the UN-Habitat, the African Union Commission, and the Economic Commission for Africa are key partners of UCLG-A agenda and are expected to play an important role at the summit," the statement reads.
The theme of the Kisumu forum is 'The Role of Intermediary Cities of Africa in the Implementation of Agenda 2030 of the United Nations and the African Union Agenda 2063'.
The agenda calls for the development of resilient dwellings that will be home to the bulk of the African population.
This is not the first time the summit has been postponed.
Initially, the Africities summit was set for November this year but was postponed to April 2022 due to Covid-19 concerns.
Travel bans and bans on large gatherings also affected the preparations.
A meeting of the executive committee of Africities on February 17 decided to move the date of the summit from November 2021 to April 2022.
Committee members include Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa secretary-general Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Council of Governors chairman Martin Wambora and Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong’o.
Earlier, the secretariat said organisers of the event had weathered various storms caused by the ravaging effects of Covid-19.
"The planning committees have navigated through those challenges to put forth a plan that will make this great country deliver the most memorable summit and the first in an intermediary city," the statement says.
In preparation for the summit, Kisumu has started to construct a 6,000-seater convention centre at the ASK Showground in Mamboleo.
"This centre will no doubt enhance immensely the county’s capacity to attract international business meetings and business tourism, greatly increasing economic activity in the region," the secretariat said.
It said the convention centre will be the fulcrum upon which investments in the western region will be positioned.
The government has also committed Sh1.2 billion to upgrade the Kisumu International Airport by building another terminal ahead of the event.
The upgrade will increase the airport's capacity to about one million passengers annually, CS Eugene said.
He said the airport was originally upgraded to process 250,000 passengers annually, but demand has grown to 500,000 passengers.
“With the expected number of delegates to the conference, this will pose a challenge. So the government is committing resources to upgrade it.”
The government has further mobilised resources to improve roads leading to the conference venue, he said.
“Through the Ministry of Infrastructure, we are going to improve to bitumen standards a number of roads leading to the ASK Showground," Eugene said.
Edited by A.N
