The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres has hailed Nairobi as a critical pillar of global multilateralism as the UN launched a major expansion of its headquarters in Kenya.
The expansion project that is expected to cost nearly USD 340 million (Ksh 44.2 billion) signals a growing shift of global influence towards Africa.
Speaking during the launch of the new office blocks and the groundbreaking of a new conference facility at the UN complex in Gigiri on Monday, Guterres noted that Nairobi is one of the United Nations’ “green centres” of gravity the only UN headquarters in Africa.
“These projects affirm Africa’s place at the heart of the UN and at the heart of international cooperation. Nairobi is one of the United Nations’ green centres of gravity the only UN headquarters in Africa. Kenya is a generous host and a strategic partner in diplomacy, development, humanitarian action, environmental leadership, and peace.”
He added that the United Nations must be closer to the people it serves connected to their realities, equipped to support the solutions that they are building.
The new office buildings are UNON’s first net-zero facilities, powered entirely by on-site solar energy throughout the year. Additional solar installations planned for the expanded conference complex are expected to make the entire Gigiri campus energy-neutral by 2030.
The Nairobi expansion approved by the General Assembly includes new modern, permanent, and climate-resilient office blocks (USD 66.2 million / Ksh 8.6 billion) and new upgraded conferencing facilities (USD 265.7 million / Ksh 34.6 billion) that will increase the number of meeting rooms from 14 to 30, and seating capacity from 2,000 to 9,000 delegates, positioning UNON as the third largest UN global hub after New York and Geneva, the fourth being Vienna.
In addition, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has invested (US$ 11.2 million/Ksh 1.46 billion) in new office blocks at UNON.
To complement the modernisation of the UN campus, the government of Kenya is investing (US$1.1 billion/ Ksh143 billion) in support of Nairobi’s infrastructure upgrade, including roads, street lighting, regeneration of the Nairobi Rivers, ICT systems security, and the operationalisation of the UN One-Stop Shop.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations: The groundbreaking ceremony for the new assembly hall and inauguration of new office building, UNON Complex, are symbols of our collective ambition.#AfricaForwardSummit #KBCniYetu pic.twitter.com/7kQexxThBi
— KBC Channel 1 News (@KBCChannel1) May 11, 2026
International Financial Architecture
The SG underscored the need to have deeper reforms in global governance institutions to give Africa greater representation and decision making power, particularly at the UN Security Council and international financial institutions.
“Too many climate-vulnerable countries are still waiting for the support they were promised. And too often, African countries are expected to live with decisions made in institutions in which they have no equal voice. That must change,” Guterres said.
“We need deeper reforms of the international financial architecture. Greater investment on terms that allow countries to build, grow and transform. And global institutions that reflect the world as it is today not as it was eighty years ago,” he added.
He further stressed that it is not acceptable that African countries pay more than three times more than developed countries in order to obtain the loans they need for the development.
“My voice will remain loud and clear in saying that we live in a situation that is deeply unfair. It is not acceptable that African countries pay more than three times more than developed countries in order to obtain the loans they need for the development. Many of these countries with a more solid financial situation and better development perspectives than developed countries that obtain resources with much lower costs. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Security Council Reforms
Guterres stressed that the current composition of the Security Council no longer reflects today’s global reality, ‘where an historic injustice persists in denying Africa permanent seats’.
“So we need to have all countries recognizing that the Security Council in which there are three European members, one Asian member, and one North American member, and no Latin America or African members, and just one Asian doesn’t correspond at all to the world of today. And this creates a problem of legitimacy. And with legitimacy comes its effectiveness in guaranteeing peace and security in the world,” Guterres said.
Middle East and Strait of Hormuz
On the impact of the current situation in the Middle East the United Nations Secretary General called for called for urgent de-escalation and the restoration of normal trade flows.
He noted that witnessing high increases in prices because of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, stressing that it should be completely without restrictions.
“That is the only way to bring energy prices and fertilizer prices back to the levels that we had before the war, and this is vital for countries like Kenya,” he noted.
Roughly 13 per cent of Africa’s imports largely oil and fertilizers move through the Strait of Hormuz and with four in five African countries net oil importers, every disruption hits hard.
“Without fertilizers, you can imagine that we risk to have a serious food security problem next year. So this is the moment in which the opening of the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions is a must from the point of view of the interests of the international community as a whole,” he added.
Accountability for Journalist Safety
Further the UN SG expressed concern over the increasing number of journalists being killed and subjected to harassment worldwide noting that the UN is actively advocating for accountability.
“Journalists are being killed and harassed with increasing frequency, and there is still a lack of accountability for these crimes. UN is actively advocating for accountability, and I have mobilized Human Rights High Commissioner to take further action.,” Guterres said.
