Momentum behind clean cooking in Africa is building, with new policies, rising investment and stronger international cooperation ahead of the 2027 Nairobi Summit. Yet nearly four in five African households still lack access to clean cooking solutions, making faster progress critical for health, climate and economic development.
Expanding Access to Clean Cooking in Africa: Challenges and Future Outlook
Thanks to the governments of Kenya and Norway, the first high-level event on clean cooking ever held at the United Nations General Assembly took place last week in New York. The meeting brought together government leaders, ministers, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, and other partners to build further momentum ahead of the second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa.
Almost two billion people worldwide still lack access to clean cooking, causing an estimated 2.5 million premature deaths each year from household air pollution.
Women and girls, in particular, carry the greatest burden. Traditional cooking also impacts the environment: it contributes to deforestation and generates 1.2 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases annually, an emission level comparable to international aviation and shipping combined. While many countries, particularly in Asia, have made rapid progress, Africa remains behind, with nearly four in five households across the continent still lacking access.
According to the IEA, more than 120 new policies have been introduced since the first international summit on clean cooking held in Paris in 2024. Over 80% of Africans without access to clean cooking methods now live in countries where governments have implemented supportive policies. Furthermore, the number of people gaining access each year is currently 30% higher than the average over the
previous five years.
Progress on clean cooking in Africa is accelerating following the inaugural 2024 Summit, with over 50 new policies adopted across the continent and $740 million of the pledged $2.2 billion already deployed across 22 States. Despite global energy challenges, clean cooking has gained high-level prominence on the COP and G20 agendas. To maintain this momentum, Kenya, Norway, and the IEA convened the UN General Assembly event to strengthen partnerships, secure new investments, and build political support leading into COP31 and the 2027 Summit in Nairobi.
Although this second Summit on Clean Cooking was postponed to January 27–28, 2027, the New York meeting served as a crucial occasion to keep governments and financial partners engaged ahead of the rescheduled gathering, where additional commitments are expected.
At the high-level event in New York, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed declared: «Those debates are essential, but people experience energy more personally than that. For a family, it can come down to what it takes to feed a family. Clean cooking brings our biggest development ambitions down to the level of a household and human dignity. This is how we can see whether the transition we speak about globally is changing daily life. Clean cooking must be recognized as a foundational element of healthy, resilient, and climate-smart homes.
It’s not solely a kitchen appliance, but a household energy and indoor-air-quality service to be integrated into housing design and planning from the start. Achieving universal access requires not only affordable technologies, but also sustainable financing, reliable energy access, and people-centered designs that enable long-term adoption».
Africa’s rising urbanization offers an opportunity to retain more local economic value and innovation by advancing clean-cooking technologies alongside broader energy initiatives like “Mission 300.” To achieve this, national leadership must drive tailored energy strategies, supported by international partners who can make financing more accessible. UN-Energy co-chairs Alexander De Croo and Damilola Ogunbiyi are helping streamline the implementation of national plans, utilizing upcoming events, such as January’s Nairobi Summit, to position clean cooking as essential infrastructure on par with the power grid. Treating clean cooking as a basic condition of development can ensure millions of families gain healthier, more productive lives by 2030.
