Devt Partners Earmark $4bn to Drive Clean Cooking by 2030

Gilbert Ekugbe 

Development partners have announced plans to pledge towards the annual $4 billion needed to provide clean cooking access for 250 million African women by 2030.

According to a statement sourced from African Development Bank (AfDB), the pledge which would be made at the Clean Cooking Summit to be held on today, May 14^th, in Paris, aims to drive significant change in clean cooking access for the nearly one billion Africans using polluting fuels, which cause the premature deaths of approximately half a million women and children every year.

The African Development Bank Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina is expected co-chair the Clean Cooking Summit, alongside President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol.

According to the statement, women and girls spend up to five hours a day collecting fuel and cooking which leaves little time for education, social or economic activities, lamenting that worldwide, the annual economic cost of women and girls’time searching for fuel wood is estimated at $800 billion while the health costs are as high as $1.4 trillion

The report added that the capital investment needed to ensure universal clean cooking access in Africa by 2030 is accessible, pointing out that the $4 billion needed annually is a small fraction of the $2.8 trillion invested globally in energy each year.

The statement added that the summit aims to mobilize this much-needed finance, saying that it brings together governments, development partners, private companies and NGOs to make concrete commitments and develop action-oriented strategies to accelerate progress on clean cooking.

“They are expected to pledge increased funding for clean cooking, with development partners committing to allocate a higher share of their energy portfolios and to work through private capital arms to bring more financing,” the report stated.

It stated that governments will prioritise clean cooking in national planning, create funded implementation programs, and introduce proven policies to support scaling clean cooking solutions.

On his part, the AfDB boss has committed the Bank’s strong support and outlined a three-pronged approach to achieve universal clean cooking access in Africa. 

“It entails governments directing at least 5 per cent of their annual energy investments towards clean cooking solutions and having multilateral and development finance institutions set aside a significant share of their annual energy financing for clean cooking solutions, including concessional blended financing and guarantees,” he said.

At COP28, Adesina said that the Bank Group would channel $2 billion for clean cooking over the next decade and also joined global leaders in rallying around the Africa Women Clean Cooking Support Program launched by Tanzania’s President Suluhu Hassan.