Beyond Stoves: Unlocking the Clean Cooking Economy in Africa

Clean cooking remains one of Africa’s most urgent development challenges. Nearly 900 million Africans still rely on traditional biomass fuels, causing over 800,000 premature deaths annually and costing the continent an estimated US$791 billion each year in health, climate, and gender equality impacts. Addressing this challenge is central to achieving SDG 7 and the AU’s Agenda 2063, which envision universal access to modern, sustainable energy services.
The side event, Beyond Stoves: Unlocking the Clean Cooking Economy in Africa, convened policymakers, DFIs, private sector actors, and civil society to galvanize high level political support and mobilize resources. Objectives included showcasing the regional clean cooking programme as a transformative initiative, exchanging experiences and innovations, and building consensus around coordinated action.
Key outcomes highlighted the urgency of closing Africa’s clean cooking financing gap—currently at $2.5 billion annually versus the $8 billion required—and the importance of enabling policies, innovative financing, and advocacy to shift social norms. The event reaffirmed the AU Assembly’s prioritization of clean cooking and underscored the role of partnerships in scaling solutions across Member States.
By strengthening collaboration between governments, DFIs, private investors, and civil society, AfEEF and the African Clean Cooking Programme aim to transform clean cooking from a neglected necessity into a driver of health, gender equality, climate resilience, and inclusive growth. This event marked a decisive step toward realizing the AU’s clean cooking vision for 2030 and beyond.

Location: UNDP RSCA / UNECA, Addis Ababa 
Partners: African Union (AU), African Energy Commission (AFREC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)