President William Ruto and UN Secretary-General António Guterres have used the groundbreaking ceremony for the expanded United Nations Office at Nairobi to issue a joint call for reforms to the global financial architecture and a more equitable international order for the Global South.
Speaking at the ceremony held at the UN campus in Gigiri, Guterres was unequivocal that Africa has long borne the cost of its absence from the table when the United Nations was founded in 1945.
He said it was unacceptable for African nations to pay higher borrowing costs than developed countries with weaker financial fundamentals, and pledged to keep pushing for reform.
“The African continent can count on me. I will always be at your side to correct injustices,” he said.
He was equally firm that there would be no true justice in the international system until Africa holds permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
President Ruto echoed that resolve, pointing to ongoing proposals around the New African Financial Architecture for Development aimed at tackling debt burdens and expanding access to concessional financing.
He said Kenya intends to advance these proposals at the G7 summit next month.
“This continent is not about aid or loans; it is about ideas, solutions and investments,” he said.
The two leaders spoke as they broke ground on a new Assembly Hall and inaugurated a newly completed office block at the Nairobi UN campus.
The expanded facility, which will accommodate 9,000 people and achieve energy neutrality through onsite solar power by 2029, is expected to be ready to host world leaders within two years.
President Ruto framed the expansion as more than a construction milestone, describing it as an affirmation of Nairobi’s standing as the UN’s headquarters in the Global South and a centre of multilateral diplomacy.
To back that ambition, he announced a government investment of $1.1 billion towards Nairobi’s infrastructure, covering roads, street lighting, the regeneration of the Nairobi Rivers, ICT systems, and the operationalisation of the UN One-Stop Shop.
He also revealed plans to amend the Privileges and Immunities Act to allow UN staff and their families to retire in Kenya, and noted that the Bomas Convention Complex is being modernised to further cement the country’s conferencing credentials.
Guterres described Nairobi as a city where global challenges meet regional solutions and where the future of multilateralism is actively being shaped.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and UN Under-Secretary-General Zainab Hawa Bangura were among those present at the ceremony.
