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The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, pledged to mobilise USD 2 billion for access to clean cooking in Africa over the next 10 years post the Clean Cooker Summit held in Paris.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, pledged to mobilise USD 2 billion for access to clean cooking in Africa over the next 10 years at the Clean Cooker Summit held in Paris.The president of the AfDB Akinwumi Adesina announced his institution’s commitment to devote 2 billion dollars over the next 10 years to access clean cooking. This corresponds to 200 million dollars per year. The AfDB thus becomes the first development finance institution to include clean cooking among its priorities in Africa.
This is an issue with economic, climate, and health implications. Access to clean cooking is more than a question of cooking, it’s a question of dignity… It’s much more than lighting the cooker, it’s an existential question. It’s about fairness, justice, and equality for women, Akinwumi Adesina stated further.
Currently, 1.2 million Africans continue to cook their food with charcoal or wood fires. As a result, 200 million hectares of forest, including 110 million in Africa, are threatened by the climatic effects of cooking with charcoal, biomass, and wood, according to IEA figures. Among the African countries most affected by deforestation linked to charcoal production is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). DRC, the country at the heart of the Congo Basin, trees are felled in droves for charcoal production, including in the Virunga National Park. According to the Development Innovation Fund (DIF), charcoal is the source of energy for 90% of the population in the east of the DRC. Faced with this crisis, it affects most sub-Saharan countries.
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Despite the pledges made in Paris, much remains to be done to achieve universal access to clean cooking in Africa, especially as 1.2 billion Africans continue to cook their food on wood fires or other fossil fuels. As a result, “over 10 years, 6 million people, mainly women, will die prematurely. This is unacceptable”, said the AfDB President in Paris. We need to invest 8 billion dollars every year in Africa to achieve universal access to clean cooking. We are still a long way from achieving this.
