Accelerating African Clean Cooking: The Energy and Financing Mix Needed to Unlock Scale
Billions of households across Africa and Asia still rely on charcoal and firewood for daily cooking, with serious consequences for health, forests, household finances, women’s and girls’ empowerment, and the climate. In response, the clean cooking sector is maturing, with a suite of cooking technologies and clean energy types now available backed by diverse digital payment, smart metering, and last-mile distribution services. Despite growing political attention and renewed momentum through initiatives such as Mission 300, clean cooking progress remains well below the pace required to achieve African countries’ compact targets.
Policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders hold differing views on the roles of improved biomass and biofuel cookstoves, electric cooking, LPG, and other emerging technologies. Each offers distinct advantages and constraints. This discussion will explore whether these solutions are competing pathways or complementary technologies serving different households, geographies, and market contexts.
Across all technology and energy modalities, progress is stunted by the fact that most households continue to face steep affordability barriers, unable to afford the upfront cost of clean cooking equipment. For the past decade, carbon markets have been widely positioned as the primary mechanism for funding this affordability gap. In the face of carbon market volatility and contested methodologies, new financing approaches, including RBFs and targeted subsidies, present an alternative pathway. This session will compare the effectiveness of different financing mechanisms and explore whether finance is addressing affordability barriers or, in some cases, compensating for wider challenges around business model viability and market development.
This Sun King and Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) event brings together policymakers, development institutions, researchers, investors, donors, and industry leaders, this discussion will explore the technology and financing mix needed to accelerate clean cooking adoption at scale. Ahead of the 2026 Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa in Nairobi, the session aims to contribute to the debate on how governments, businesses, and development partners can turn growing political ambition into practical progress.
Following the 90-minute panel, guests are invited to a drinks reception to continue the conversation.
Moderator:
Ademidun (Demi) Edosomwan, Partner and Head of Energy Access, Lightrock
Speakers:
Dr Brian Isabirye, Renewable Energy Commissioner, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), Government of Uganda
Michelle Hallack, Senior Specialist, Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, World Bank
Yagouba Traoré, Head of Policy Planning and Strategy, African Energy Commission (AFREC)
Prof Ed Brown, Director, MECS programme
Malcolm Bricknell, International Liaison Manager, MECS programme
Mark O’Keefe, Director of Clean Cooking, Sun King
Douglas Greenwell, Commercial Director, Carbon, BURN
Additional speakers to be confirmed and added