Dr. Alice Kaudia representing the Climate & Clean Air Coalition—at the Clean Air Forum held in Nairobi from July 15-17 2025
In the soft-lit main hall of the Clean Air Forum 2025 in Nairobi, the air was thick not with pollution, but with purpose.
Held from July 15 to 17, 2025, at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, the Forum, under the theme “Partnerships for Clean Air Solutions more than 300 delegates from 35 countries, convening not just to discuss air quality, but to reimagine the future of Africa’s skies.
On the opening day of the three-day session, among dozens of panels and presentations, two voices stood out: Dr. Tunde Ajayi of Nigeria and Dr. Alice Kaudia of Kenya.
Though working from different angles, they delivered one urgent message—Africa must invest in clean air like its life depended on it. Because it does.
The Room Where Clean Air Became Political
This year’s Forum felt less like a technical workshop and more like a summit—part science lab, part community town hall.
Government officials, researchers, grassroots organizers, financiers, and climate experts met under one roof to tackle two interlocking themes: how to fund clean air and how to make data work for the people.
Dr. Ajayi and Dr. Kaudia gave those themes direction.
Lagos: Where Clean Air Means Engineering Hope
Dr.Ajayi, General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), spoke with both resolve and humility.
Recounting his work overseeing oxygen logistics during Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, he said:
“I saw how important it was to have clean air… how the test [breath] is important to life.”
That experience changed how he approached environmental policy.
Transparency and public perticipation
He pointed out that a large share of Nigeria’s air pollution was domestic, especially from small-scale electricity generation.
“In Nigeria, this is interesting,” he said, “but most of us still generate electricity using power generating sets that leverage fossil fuel and, of course, increase pollution.”
But by linking personal actions to public data, even small behavioral shifts become possible.
“People are able to see that, well, my generating set gives me electricity, but if I can convert it to energy, I will reduce pollution in my own personal space—and, in turn, reduce pollution across the world.”
In Ajayi’s view, it all came back to access and transparency.
“So, we think that a few ideas around data sharing, you know, helps us drive that collaboration.”
Finace at the core
To tackle the financial hurdles around monitoring and infrastructure, Lagos has begun organizing its efforts into functional clusters.
As Dr. Ajayi explained, these include what the agency internally refers to as AQ Finance and AQ Tech—teams focused respectively on managing air quality costs and developing tools locally.
“We have the AQ Finance now, or we have the AQ Tech people who are developing tools locally in Lagos,” he said.
“And there are more than one, but what has happened is we have stayed that interest. We have pushed that button, and we think that, over time, we will be able to manage costs around air quality monitoring globally.”
Rather than a formal fund, AQ Finance reflects an emerging coordination track within the broader Lagos strategy, aimed at affordability, local innovation, and cross-sectoral collaboration.
ACAP: A Continental Vision Rooted in Communities
If Ajayi represented the urban frontline, Dr. Kaudia spoke from the continental command post.
Representing the Africa Clean Air Programme (ACAP)—a joint initiative of the African Union, UNEP, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), and the Stockholm Environment Institute—her message was one of continental coordination. She didn’t begin with slides or metrics.
She began with a breath.
“Breathe in. Out. In. Out. Completely,” she instructed the audience. And then:
“When a child is born, in that first second of life, the newborn takes in air… because without really clean air, that is the difference between life and death.”
ACAP was established in 2019, following a high-level AU meeting in Uganda. The foundation was a landmark scientific assessment—co-led by Kaudia in her role at CCAC—which examined air pollution sources and policy gaps across the continent.
The findings led to 37 sectoral measures targeting transport, agriculture, waste, energy, and industry, all focused on reducing PM2.5, the fine particulate pollutant linked to lung and heart disease.
But for Kaudia, science alone isn’t enough.
“If this is a programme embedded within the government’s budgeting and planning… then we are more secure that there will be continuity and continuous growth and development,” she emphasized.
Without that level of political and fiscal commitment, she warned:
“If it is a project that will have a lifeline after five years or so, it’s over. We don’t know what’s next.” Her point was clear: short-term projects can’t clean long-term air.
Information Is Power—Only If It’s Shared
Dr. Ajayi and Dr. Kaudia found common ground in a shared principle: data must be democratized.
In Lagos, a city of over 20 million residents and 2 million vehicles, air quality isn’t a peripheral issue—it’s central to survival.
Ajayi spoke about Lagos’s public air bulletins and how transparency had shifted public behavior.
“It drives a lot of interest. School students have been able to ask questions: How can I reduce pollution in my own small space?”
But for Ajayi, the power of data went beyond education. It was also the glue for policy, participation, and behavioral change.
He explained that in Lagos, opening up high-quality air index data had triggered cross-sector engagement—from journalists to citizens—and sparked critical conversations about pollution’s root causes.
“So, for us,” he said, “we think that collaborations across these lines, and a deep understanding—a fundamental understanding—of these issues will make work easier next time.”
He emphasized the importance of policy enablers that support open data ecosystems and ensure people can access and use this information meaningfully.
Dr. Kaudia echoed this, pointing out the limitations African nations face in accessing usable data.
“We found during the assessment… when you get them from the international databases, it’s not very easy to access,” she noted.
Without reliable, localized data, she said, policy cannot be effective.
“If we don’t have quality data, we don’t have quality policies. We do not have a quality program. And therefore, we have more impact in this area.”
To address this, ACAP is building a network of national and regional air quality information systems, supported by Centers of Excellence.
These hubs will serve as training grounds, innovation labs, and policy support centers across the continent’s five regions.
The Politics of Partnership
Both speakers emphasized that the way forward for Africa is not competition, but collaboration.
“In Africa, we are not yet at the point of competition,” Ajayi said. “We’re still saying we should collaborate more, as opposed to compete. We can’t even compete.”
That view aligns with ACAP’s structure, which integrates regional economic blocs—from ECOWAS to the East African Community—into air policy coordination.
Air quality is now being tied to broader goals: national development, climate commitments, and food systems resilience. As Kaudia reminded the room:
“Clean air… really clean air is the difference between life and death.”
Forum Highlights: Turning Dialogue into Direction
Across the three days of the Clean Air Forum 2025, a clear message emerged: Air pollution is preventable—but only with sustained action.
Panels ranged from city innovation to cross-border financing. Exhibits displayed tech innovations from Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town.
Young people, including school groups, presented community-driven campaigns. But the real takeaway wasn’t a declaration—it was a coalition.
The Forum created new links: between city halls and ministries, between youth groups and climate donors, between technologists and policymakers.
Conclusion: Investing in the Air We Breathe
As the Forum concluded on its final day and delegates stepped outside into the cool Nairobi afternoon, the challenge ahead remained enormous—but no longer unstructured.
Dr. Ajayi and Dr. Kaudia didn’t just speak; they mapped out a way forward. One began in the overburdened streets of Lagos.
The other is in the strategy rooms of continental governance. Together, they painted a vision powered by finance, information, and resolve.
Clean air is not a luxury or an afterthought. It is infrastructure—essential to health, education, productivity, and dignity.
And as both speakers reminded us, the breath we take tomorrow depends on the investments we make today.
