By Sylvester Oluoch
The 8th edition of the Africities summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa themed “Overcoming the Loss of Urban Green and Public Spaces in Africa” centered around the impact urbanization was having on the climate and the best approach to manage this “necessary evil.”
This 9th Africities summit in Kisumu, Kenya between 17th May and 21st May 2022, takes a more active quest in having mid-size cities play part in addressing the UN vision 2030 and the AU agenda 2063.
Going by the past participation there is every reason to take part in this conference.
Here are the numbers that the 8th Africities Summit held in 2018 manifest, according to africities.org
- Participants – 8,300
- Countries represented – 77
- Officials of cities, both elected and non-elected – 3,000
- Exhibitors – 84
- Sessions held – 150
- Partners of the Africities summit – 40
- B2B Meetings – 150
- Government ministers – 20
These numbers are likely to be higher this year with anticipation that at least 10 heads of state will be present or represented. It is a great breeding ground for new business and firming up already existing business relationships among African countries as well as other extra-continental trading partners. Kisumu is therefore the place to be.
About Kisumu
Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade “sumo” in the Luo language, and is locally called ‘Kisumo’. It was the major port of Lake Victoria during the commonwealth of East Africa, then known as Port Florence. The town was founded in the early 19th Century mainly as the main inland terminal of the Asian built Uganda railway. Asians once formed a quarter of the population of the town, with cultural and infrastructural evidence of this visible to date.
Kisumu is the principal city of western Kenya and forms the commercial, industrial and transportation center majorly due to its water and rail connections. Formally the headquarters of the greater Nyanza Province, the town has grown to be the third largest city in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa and is now the headquarters of Kisumu County.
The main industries in Kisumu are centered around processing of agricultural products, fishing, brewing and textile manufacturing industries.
