By Florence Gichoya

Action 24, the southern node of the ACCESS Coalition, held a webinar on, ‘Unlocking Global Finance Streams for Clean Cooking and Energy Access in Southern Africa.’

The webinar aimed to create awareness about the opportunities and challenges for enhancing clean cooking access in vulnerable communities in Southern Africa.

Speakers shared insights on the importance of evidence-based advocacy and research in facilitating the implementation of clean cooking solutions. They underscored the need for robust mobilization of public and private funding to fast-track clean cooking access in Africa.

Dr. Chipo Mukonza, a research associate at the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme hosted by Loughborough University, UK, observed that “the complex nature of the clean cooking transition is often influenced by factors such as affordability, cultural preferences, and infrastructure limitations.”

She noted there was inadequate flow of energy finance to regions and countries with the highest access deficits, more so for the decentralized renewable energy and clean cooking solutions.

The trend of clean cooking financing approaches is mainly focused on the supply side and the private sector, with limited multilateral development bank (MDB) financing in the sub-Saharan Africa region. In addition, energy service planning and delivery remain top-down and technology-focused, overlooking the needs of energy-poor people and their contexts.

About 2.3 billion people lack access to clean cooking solutions globally, and they use polluting fuels and technologies for their cooking, endangering their health and causing environmental destruction.

Murefu Barasa, the chairperson of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA), shared experiences from Kenya’s clean cooking sector. He highlighted the challenge of the affordability of clean cooking solutions as a leading factor of low clean cooking access rates in the country.

According to a World Bank report (2021), access to modern energy cooking services is closely related to the level of economic development and urbanization rate.

Civil society engagement and inclusion of the voices of the energy-poor groups in the decision-making will be key in achieving universal energy access and delivering wider socio-cultural and economic development.

The webinar series offered a platform that enhanced stakeholder understanding of clean energy strategies and increased collaboration between various sectors in the Southern Africa region.