The fourth edition of the Africities Summit was held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center, KICC, of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, from 18 to 22 September 2006.

Placed under the High Patronage of His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of the Republic of Kenya, the theme of this African Summit of Local Governments was: “Building local coalitions for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in African Local Governments.”

The Africities Summits have been organized under the auspices of the Municipal Development Partnership (MDP).  The first Africities Summit organized in Abidjan 1998 contributed to the emergence of African Local Governments on the regional and international scene. The 2000 Windhoek Summit marked the beginning of the structuring of the African municipal movement and the Pan-African dialogue on decentralization and sustainable local development. The Yaounde Summit in 2003 witnessed the setting up of the All Africa Ministerial Conference on Decentralization and Local Development (AMCOD) and the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA), the African Chapter of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

The Nairobi Summit in 2006 provided a unique opportunity for the Local Governments, the Central Governments and the Development Partners, as well as decentralization stakeholders in Africa to take stock of the implementation of decentralization policies in Africa, as well as of the Millennium Development Goals in African local governments.

Like the past Summits, Nairobi was an unquestionable success: over 3,000 delegates from 80 countries across the world, including over 350 non-African delegates and 1,300 Kenyans, over 1000 mayors, 200 delegates from National Associations of Local Authorities, about 30 African ministers, over 200 representatives of international organizations including most of United Nations agencies involved in the implementation of MDGs, about one hundred delegates from African and international NGOs, almost 100 academics and researchers …  Citexpo registered 600 exhibitors.

23 thematic sessions helped to take stock of the implementation of each goal, to analyze the implementation strategies and to review with each potential stakeholder the role it wishes to fulfill from now on by the side of African local governments.

The 37 special sessions that addressed varying topics touching all the areas of local governance and urban management, constituted a testimony of the diversity of the networks working by the sides of MDP and UCLGA, for the building of the municipal movement in Africa.

The mayors expressed the wish for the strengthening of national unity and solidarity between the African central governments in order to make more resounding the voice of Africa on the international scene; they also expressed the wish for a deepening of decentralization with a view to improving the realization of MDGs and the access of the people to basic services, in compliance with the national policies laid down by the national governments.

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to decentralization and the speeding up of the transfer of adequate resources for a faster implementation of MDGs; they encouraged the establishment in the local governments, of practices promoting transparency, accountability and delivery of services to the citizens. They were also informed of the ongoing discussions on the guidelines on decentralization at the level of the United Nations and envisaged the establishment of an African Charter on local governance.

Within the framework of the tripartite dialogue session, the technical and financial partners confirmed their commitment in favor of decentralization and realization of MDGs.  They underscored their preparedness to support AMCOD and UCLGA and committed themselves to including strengthening of local authorities’ competences in the area of MDGs amongst the priorities of international cooperation and of development assistance.

This summit helped the different stakeholders present to make recommendations on the most relevant strategies and to pass resolutions and commitments with a view to absorbing the considerable delay that the continent has been registering in relation to the realization of the MDG targets set by the year 2015. We have now reached a new turning point with the commitment of local governments and other stakeholders to build local coalitions for the speeding up of the realization of MDGs in African local governments.

Before the Africities 2006 limelight died completely down, the participants in the summit made a demand for the UCLGA, which from now on will organize subsequent Africities Summits, to develop a permanent evaluation system of the implementation of recommendations and resolutions of these summits, starting with the Africities 2006 summit.

Nairobi, 22 September 2006

Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi