Affordable housing top agenda in Ruto’s speech at UN General Assembly

President William Ruto’s affordable housing pet project will form part of his top agenda in his address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi said President Ruto will use the global forum to engage with world leaders and champion issues that define Kenya’s national development, regional progress, Africa’s future and shared global prosperity.

“This milestone UNGA session gives Kenya a powerful platform to speak boldly on climate action, peace and stability, affordable housing, reform of the global financial system, and inclusive development,” Mudavadi, who arrived in New York on Thursday, said.

He added that from the forum, Kenya would ensure that international decisions translate into meaningful change for ordinary Kenyans.

The President has increasingly become vocal on the housing agenda both domestically and internationally.

During the launch of the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia, Ruto hailed Ethiopians for building the Sh646 billion project from own resources instead of debt, adding that Kenya had adopted the model in its affordable housing project.

Drawing parallels with Kenya’s ongoing affordable housing programme, he said his government is similarly driving development through domestic resource mobilisation.

“Already, we have 700,000 units in the pipeline and 170,000 houses currently under construction. Kenyans, from their own resources, have raised $4 billion (Sh516.7 billion) worth of projects under the housing programme. This mirrors what Ethiopia has done with this dam,” President Ruto told the guests, who included Presidents Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Hussein Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia), Omar Guelleh (Djibouti) and Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed.

The head of state said both projects underscore a new wave of African-led initiatives aimed at lifting citizens out of poverty and dependence.

“That way, we can emancipate our people from debt, from begging across borders, and take charge of our own development,” he added.

He has also on several instances cited the housing success in Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia as his inspiration for the project in transforming the country.

The President has also invited foreign investors to invest in the initiative, with Saudis being the latest to sign up.

Two major Saudi development banks last month committed to support the housing agenda through strategic financing partnerships.

The Saudi Export-Import Bank became the latest Saudi institution to join Kenya’s housing initiative when CEO Saad Al-Khalb signed a MoU with Shelter Afrique MD Thierno-Habib Hann in Nairobi this August.

The agreement aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the bank’s participation in Kenya’s affordable housing finance scheme.

The partnership follows a similar commitment by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, whose president Abdullah KH AlMusaibeeh had earlier signed an financing agreement to support the government of Kenya’s housing objectives.

The project also featured in Ruto’s address at the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, announcing that the affordable housing projects would be aligned with global green certification standards to attract financing from institutions like the Green Climate Fund.

The initiative falls in line with UN’s Global Housing Strategy, which aims to ensure adequate housing for all and improving access to housing in general.

The strategy’s primary objective is to assist member states in working towards the realisation of the right to adequate and affordable housing.