Achieving universal access to clean cooking across Africa will require $37 billion in cumulative investment to 2040, or roughly $2 billion per year, according to the roadmap laid out by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report.

The roadmap envisions that 60% of the energy for the newly connected households will come from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and the rest from electricity, bioethanol, biogas and advanced biomass cookstoves. Urban areas would be able to reach near-complete access by 2035 while rural access would expand steadily through the 2030s, should countries receive necessary support from the international community.

“This new IEA report provides a clear, data-driven roadmap for every household across Africa to gain access,” said Fatih Birol, executive director, IEA.

“The problem is solvable with existing technologies, and it would cost less than 0.1% of total energy investment globally. But delivering on this will require stronger focus and coordinated action from governments, industry and development partners,” he added.

The report also tracks the outcomes of the summit on clean cooking in Africa – held in May 2024 in Paris which mobilised over $2.2 billion in public and private sector commitments. More than $470 million of those commitments have already been disbursed, according to the report.

While access to clean cooking is improving in most parts of the world, including Asia and Latin America, it is the reverse in sub-Saharan Africa leading to more focus on the region within Africa.

Areas that need investment

At the moment, around four in five households in sub-Saharan Africa still cook with polluting fuels like wood, charcoal or dung, often over open fires or basic stoves. The population without access to clean cooking in this region stands at one billion.

While the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed for universal access to clean energy by 2030, the world is currently off track to meet that goal.

Transitioning to clean cooking is helpful not just to meet that goal but it is also seen as a ‘low-hanging fruit’ when it comes to climate action is it also reduces carbon emissions.

IEA’s roadmap estimates that 80 million people can gain access to clean cooking fuel every year until 2040, which is sevenfold increase compared to today’s pace. To do this will require $37 billion in cumulative investment to 2040.

This investment would go towards upfront spending on household equipment such as stoves, fuel cylinders and canisters, as well building the enabling infrastructure like fuel distribution networks, storage terminals and electricity grid upgrades. This will also create an estimated 460,000 jobs by 2040, according to the report that made an investment case for clean cooking.

LPG will be 60% of the new connections, supported by other sources like solar and electricity. While electric cooking is the rage in developing countries and very efficient, the unreliable or non-existent nature of electricity in parts of the developing world make it unviable as a solution that can be deployed at scale. Solar too has its limitations when it comes to the changing weather that might reduce sunshine as well as the limited battery capacity to store the energy generated.

“Clean cooking is not a luxury. It’s an issue that touches every family, every day,” said Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan. “The African Union (AU) Dar es Salaam Declaration on clean cooking, signed earlier this year by 30 heads of state from across Africa and now adopted by the AU Assembly in February this year, is a clear signal of our commitment to making energy access and clean cooking a national and continental priority,” she added.

Tracking progress of financial commitments

Hassan emphasized that countries will need support from partners to improve access to clean cooking. IEA’s report says that some of the support is on the way.

IEA has documented that $470 million of the pledged $2.2 billion in commitments in 2024 have already been disbursed. The pledged money is coming from both governments as well as the private sector. Nearly 18% of this money came from governments and 82% by private sector actors. Ireland and the United States are the two governments that have disbursed the entire sum they committed to.

Following the summit, 10 out of the 12 African governments that were a part of the clean cooking in Africa summit have enacted or implemented new clean cooking policies. Currently over 70% of people without access to clean cooking live in countries that strengthened their policy frameworks since 2024, according to IEA’s report.

Tanzania and Kenya demonstrated the largest increase in policy coverage since 2024. Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are the sub-Saharan Africa countries that have the widest coverage of key clean cooking policies, the report said.

The policies included government programmes that supported clean cooking fuels like LPG, tax incentives for switching to clean cooking and cooking stove distribution programmes, amongst others.

For nearly two thirds of sub-Saharan Africans affordability remains a major constraint as they would need to spend more than 10% of their income to adopt clean cooking solutions. To make clean cooking more affordable for the underserved population would require special attention by governments and policy focus.

Boost to women’s health, quality of life

Indoor air pollution was linked to 3.2 million annual deaths in 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of those affected are women and children.

IEA’s report estimates that the number of pre-mature deaths for Africa is around 815,000, and that improving access to clean cooking will improve women’s lives tremendously. Women also spend up to four hours a day gathering fuel for cooking, including firewood. This time could have been otherwise spent in gainful economic activity or rest and leisure.

While clean cooking certainly saves times, at the moment the evidence on the health gains it would lead to is missing. Results of recent household trials where the family switched from biomass to LPG did not show significant health gains.

Where Africa stands at the moment

IEA report finds that while access to clean cooking by 2040 is achievable across Africa, it will require efforts across governments, industry, civil society, and the international community.

Investments have continued to rise since 2013, but more is needed, especially in underserved areas.

“With strong political commitment, targeted finance and regional cooperation, we can make universal access to clean cooking a reality for every African household. The IEA’s leadership in convening partners and tracking progress has been instrumental in elevating clean cooking on the global agenda and turning pledges into real action on the ground,” said Lerato Mataboge, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.

Image Credits: IEA, IEA.