Africa’s energy transformation is gaining serious traction with the launch of a $40 billion fund aimed at connecting 300 million people to cleaner, more reliable power by 2030. Announced at the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, this milestone initiative underscores a growing recognition that the continent’s path to universal access must urgently prioritise clean cooking solutions alongside electrification efforts. As African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025 approaches, momentum is building to put clean cooking front and centre of the energy access agenda.
Despite the surge in energy-focused investments, over 900 million people in Africa still cook with traditional fuels like wood and charcoal. The consequences are dire with over 600,000 premature deaths each year from household air pollution, accelerating deforestation and rising carbon emissions. While conversations often revolve around power grids and renewable electricity, clean cooking has remained the missing link in Africa’s energy transition. This new fund could finally change that.
Backed by powerful financiers, the World Bank with $22 billion, the African Development Bank with $18.2 billion, plus pledges from the Islamic Development Bank and OPEC Fund, the initiative signals unprecedented global support for Africa’s clean energy ambitions. For clean cooking, the opportunity to channel a portion of this capital into scalable, people-centred solutions has never been greater.
Across the continent, progress is taking shape. Kenya is aggressively expanding access to LPG and electric cooking through policy reform and private sector partnerships, while Tanzania is embedding clean cooking into its national energy strategy. Ghana is promoting efficient biomass stoves, scaling LPG subsidies and supporting local stove manufacturing. These efforts are more than policy points as they are real-time models for transforming how Africans cook, live and breathe.
Reliable energy is the engine of economic growth and investing in clean cooking means investing in health, productivity and gender equality. AEW 2025 will be pivotal in shaping how governments, financiers and businesses align behind this vision. From carbon credit systems to innovative financing for off-grid solutions, the event offers a platform to turn ideas into bankable, high-impact projects.
Africa stands at a crossroads as universal energy access is within reach but only if clean cooking becomes a core priority. The $40 billion fund is more than a promise, it’s a signal that Africa is ready to lead its own energy revolution, one stove, one household, one partnership at a time.
