Webinar Series: Sustainable Scaling: Meeting the Clean Cooking Challenge in Africa
Access to clean cooking remains a major challenge for Africa. The continent accounts for 42% of the world population, about 1 billion people, without access to clean cooking technologies and fuels. According to the African Energy Commission (AFREC), biomass use mainly for charcoal and firewood, accounts for 51% of the total primary energy consumption in the continent. In most African homes, biomass accounts for around 85% of their entire energy needs, except for North Africa that relies of gas with biomass representing 5%. These figures underscore Africa's reliance on biomass and hence associated negative externalities on environment, gender equality and overall socioeconomic development.
Reliance on biomass and other polluting fuels is a primary contributor to Household Air Pollution (HAP) and is associated with 3.8 million premature deaths globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, HAP is the second cause of premature deaths of which 60% of the deaths affect women and children. Additionally, the associated economic toll of loss of productivity and labour opportunities, disproportionately affects women and children that spend 3 to 5 hours per day in collecting fuel and tending fires. It is estimated that Africa incurs a conservative cost of US$ 791.4 billion per year driven by these negative externalities of health, economy and climate. Sadly, indications show that without enhancing our efforts, more than 800 million people in the continent will remain without access to clean cooking beyond 2030. Therefore, benefits of clean cooking transition go beyond mitigating health impacts to include enhancing the environment, poverty alleviation and enhancing gender equality.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that without additional measures, current government policies will not significantly reduce the number of people without access to clean cooking. In view of this challenge and the need for a transformative approach, the African Ministers responsible for Energy through the 4th Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, and Energy (STC-TTIIE) held on 12-15 September 2023 in Zanzibar, Tanzania requested AFREC to develop an African Clean Cooking Programme.
As part of the design of the AfCCP, AFREC in partnership with Modern Clean Cooking Services (MECS) and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank are developing a publication titled “Sustainable Scaling: Meeting the Clean Cooking Challenge in Africa”. The publication aims to raise awareness on the status of clean cooking in Africa, quantifies the scale of the clean cooking challenge in the continent, and provides the cost of inaction with specific recommendations and actions towards addressing the clean cooking challenges in Africa.
As part of the AfCCP, a webinar is planned on 9th October 2024 to showcase the findings in the publication in preparation for the official launch during COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The webinar will include case studies on clean cooking planning and clean cooking programme implementation drawn from Kenya, Somalia and India.
Webinar: Status of Clean Cooking in Africa, Cost of Inaction, Integrated Planning and Tackling the Challenge
09 October 2024, 10: 00 -11:45 Algiers, 11:00 – 12:45 (CEST); 12:00-13:45 (EAT)
Registration Link: https://zoom.us/j/94074062010?pwd=YW7avZHCpIMWY4It21v3MgnE12B3pJ.1
Languages: English, Portuguese and French
About the African Energy Commission
The African Energy Commission (AFREC) is a specialized technical agency of the African Union Commission (AUC), under the Department of Infrastructure and Energy created by Decision of the 37th Summit of the OAU African Heads of States and Governments in July 2011 and officially launched by the African Union Ministers in charge of Energy in February 2008 in Algiers, Algeria. As per its convention, AFREC has a broad mandate to develop and recommend policies, strategies, research and plans based on AU Member States, sub regional, regional and continental development priorities including on clean cooking, energy transition, energy efficiency, data and statistics, oil and gas, and bioenergy,
For more information:
OngeriN@africa-union.org