African cities sound alarm on climate and housing at Baku urban forum

African cities are running out of time. Climate change, rapid urbanisation and chronic housing shortages are converging on a continent where governments lack the finances to respond at scale — and officials gathering at the World Urban Forum in Baku say the old funding models are no longer enough.

The 13th edition of the forum, WUF13, brought together African policymakers who are increasingly treating housing not as a welfare issue but as a core economic and infrastructure challenge, bound up with climate adaptation, migration and post-conflict recovery.

Angola’s Minister of Public Works, Urban Planning and Housing, Carlos Alberto Gregório dos Santos, said his country is directing around 7.5% of gross domestic product toward the residential sector — one of its largest areas of public investment.

The Angolan state has built approximately 350,000 housing units in recent years to address a national housing deficit in cities growing faster than governments can build.

Dos Santos said forums like WUF13 allow developing countries to compare models and exchange practical solutions on housing, transport and infrastructure.

“Africa, Europe and Asia must work together,” he said.

Lessons from reconstruction

Azerbaijan’s own reconstruction experience became a recurring reference point for delegates from countries grappling with post-conflict recovery or crumbling infrastructure.

Hamat Ngai Kumba Bah, Gambia’s Minister of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs, said Baku offered important lessons in resilience and national coordination — and pointed to the decision to convert a sports arena into the summit venue as a model of adaptive urban development over costly new construction.

On financing, Bah was blunt. “In this world today, nobody has enough finances,” he said, arguing that governments with limited budgets must move toward innovative financing mechanisms rather than relying on traditional multilateral funding alone.

Trees versus floods

Climate resilience dominated much of the debate, particularly for cities already living with the consequences.

Moges Tadesse, chief resilience officer for Addis Ababa, warned that seasonal flooding is destroying homes, damaging infrastructure and displacing residents from riverbanks and flood-prone zones — with cascading effects on public health and livelihoods.

Ethiopia’s response has leaned heavily on nature-based solutions.

Addis Ababa has planted more than 90 million trees over the last five years. Nationwide, Ethiopia has planted around 47 billion trees as part of a broader land restoration programme.

Tadesse also pressed wealthy nations to do more. Countries contributing least to global carbon emissions, he argued, are bearing the greatest environmental and economic costs.

For many delegates in Baku, the message was the same, namely that African cities cannot afford to treat housing, climate and economic development as separate problems. The question is whether the financing will follow.