Kenya, Norway, the United States and the International Energy Agency announced on 11 December 2025 that they will convene the second global Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa in Nairobi in 2026, an event aimed at accelerating access to modern cooking solutions for nearly one billion Africans who still rely on charcoal, firewood and other polluting fuels.
The summit will be co-chaired by Kenya’s President William Ruto, Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, bringing together governments, financiers and energy companies to address one of the continent’s most persistent but underfunded development challenges.
Clean cooking rarely commands the same attention as electricity grids or large renewable power plants, yet its absence shapes daily life for households across Africa. According to the IEA, roughly four out of five people in sub-Saharan Africa still cook with traditional biomass.
In countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, this translates into millions of households spending hours each week collecting firewood or paying rising prices for charcoal. The health impact is equally stark. The World Health Organization estimates that household air pollution causes about 3.7 million premature deaths globally each year, with Africa accounting for a significant share, particularly among women and children who spend the most time near cooking fires.
The summit builds on momentum from the first Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, held in Paris in May 2024. That meeting brought together nearly 60 countries, African heads of state, development banks and major energy firms, and resulted in financial pledges worth about $2.2 billion.
For a sector long described as neglected, the figure was notable. Clean cooking investment in Africa has historically hovered below $100 million annually, far short of what is needed. The IEA estimates that achieving universal access across sub-Saharan Africa by 2040 will require around $8 billion a year, a fraction of what the region already attracts for power generation but still far above current flows.
Progress since Paris has been uneven but measurable. In July 2025, the IEA reported that more than $470 million of the pledged funds had already been disbursed. These resources have supported programs ranging from LPG distribution in Kenya and Ghana to improved biomass stoves in rural Tanzania and Rwanda, as well as early-stage investments in electric cooking in urban areas where power supply is more reliable.
The same update outlined a roadmap showing that a mix of LPG, electricity, biogas and advanced biomass could deliver clean cooking at lower overall cost than previously assumed, provided that fuel supply chains, tariffs and consumer financing are addressed together.
Kenya’s role as host is not symbolic. The country has positioned clean cooking as part of its broader energy transition, with government data showing LPG penetration rising from about 15 percent of households in 2013 to more than 35 percent by 2023.
Read also: Tunisia showcases regional leadership as AU gathers for 6th women, peace and security forum
Nairobi has also experimented with pay-as-you-go LPG models and targeted subsidies, approaches that are now being studied by neighbors such as Uganda and Malawi. President Ruto’s administration has publicly linked clean cooking to forest protection, noting that charcoal production remains a leading driver of deforestation in parts of Kenya’s drylands.
Norway and the United States bring financing capacity and policy influence, while the IEA provides analytical backing. The agency’s collaboration with the African Union has focused on helping governments integrate clean cooking into national energy plans, rather than treating it as a social add-on.
Lerato Mataboge, the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, has argued that domestic policy clarity is essential for crowding in private capital, a point echoed by African Development Bank officials who estimate that every dollar of public support can unlock several dollars in private investment if risks are properly shared.
What remains clear is the scale of the gap. In West Africa, population growth continues to outpace clean cooking adoption, meaning absolute numbers without access are still rising in countries such as Niger and Burkina Faso.
In Southern Africa, electricity access is higher, but unreliable grids and high appliance costs slow the shift to electric cooking. Across the continent, household energy decisions are shaped less by global climate targets than by affordability, convenience and trust in supply.
The Nairobi summit is expected to focus on turning pledges into bankable projects and expanding consumer finance, including microcredit and results-based financing. If successful, it could help reframe clean cooking from a marginal issue into a core pillar of Africa’s sustainability agenda, linking health, gender equity, climate mitigation and economic development.
Read also: TotalEnergies strengthens position in Namibia with new stake in Mopane and Venus oil discoveries
For millions of households, the outcome will not be measured in communiqués or declarations, but in whether the daily act of cooking becomes safer, cheaper and less damaging to their environment.
Engage with us on LinkedIn: Africa Sustainability Matters
