According to the 2024 Sustainable Cities Index, Nairobi lacks momentum to make rapid progress in the fields of people, planet, and profit. Kenya’s capital city scores low on every indicator, according to research done by Arcadis. Nairobi ranks 98 on the most recent benchmark, leaving only Karachi and Johannesburg behind.

In general, African cities show poor sustainability performance. The highest-ranking African city is Cairo, at 94, followed by Lagos (95), Kinshasa (96), and Cape Town (97). The entire top 10 consists of European cities.

It really hurt me to see this very low score on the index. Nairobi has become one of my favorite cities! Name one other city that has a national park with lions, giraffes, and hippos? The nice weather, the friendly people, the energetic atmosphere, the unique taste of nyama choma! How can this score be true?

I am not blind to the poverty, corruption, contamination, and all the other challenges Kenya faces. But I have met so many people, organizations, and companies working incredibly hard to improve the sustainability of Nairobi’s business culture, energy efficiency, sanitation, waste management, agriculture, carbon emissions, living wages, water supply, and so on.

Apparently, all the efforts have not yet materialized into a good score on the Sustainable Cities Index. Akili Green is ready and eager to work on improvement and help move Nairobi up the sustainability ladder! Let us know if you want to join us!