To accelerate the momentum of the clean cooking revolution, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) (www.UNCDF.org), in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania and the European Union, inaugurated the Eastern Africa Regional Clean Cooking Energy Symposium in Arusha, Tanzania. The event brought together industry leaders and policymakers to discuss strategies for advancing clean cooking, under the theme “Linking finance, innovation, technology adoption, access, and policy.”
The three-day regional symposium convened over 200 key stakeholders, including senior government representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, and Tanzania, development partners, SMEs, researchers, financial institutions, and civil society organizations. This gathering underscored a shared regional commitment to addressing the critical issue of clean cooking in East Africa, where the prevalent use of traditional biomass fuels like wood and charcoal poses significant health risks, contributes to environmental degradation, and exacerbates climate change.
In his keynote address, delivered on behalf of Hon. Dr. Dotto Mashaka Biteko, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Eng. Innocent Luoga, Commissioner of Electricity and Renewable Energy, emphasized:
“The Clean Cooking Agenda is a top national priority for Her Excellency Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has taken an active leadership role in championing clean cooking across the continent, particularly through the launch of the African Women Clean Cooking Support Program. This symposium serves as a platform for new ideas and regional collaboration on the clean cooking agenda”.
The symposium aligns with Tanzania’s National Clean Cooking Strategy (2024–2034), which aims to ensure that 80% of Tanzanians adopt clean cooking solutions by 2034. This ambitious goal addresses the pressing need to reduce reliance on traditional cooking methods that contribute to deforestation, indoor air pollution, and adverse health outcomes.
Mr. Peter Malika, UNCDF Chief Technical Advisor, highlighted the symposium’s significance:
“This regional symposium is a valuable platform for learning, sharing, and collaboration. We are highlighting opportunities in the clean cooking value chain, promoting cooperation, and advancing the adoption of clean cooking as a primary objective of a regional conference such as this one.”
Throughout the symposium, participants will engage in discussions on blended finance mechanisms, leveraging private sector investments, establishing standards and certification to ensure quality and consumer confidence, exploring carbon credit opportunities, and sharing best practices and innovations in clean cooking technologies and market delivery approaches.
Also speaking at the Symposium, Albina Minja, Company Operational Manager, SESCOM, a company that promotes efficient production and use of electricity from renewable energy sources said, “We carried out research in the country in 2018 and the research concluded that cooking with electricity is cheaper than cooking with any other appliance. Since then, we started creating awareness while also strengthening our supply chain to ensure the availability of high-quality appliances in Tanzania. We are honored to be a grantee of CookFund. The program has been very useful to us as a company but also to the end users.”
The partnership between UNCDF, the Government of Tanzania, and the European Union has facilitated the implementation of the CookFund, which empowers businesses, expands market access, and makes clean cooking more accessible and affordable across communities.
Together, these collaborative efforts are building a cleaner, healthier, and more inclusive energy future, starting in Arusha and extending across the region.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
For more information, contact:
Mariam Simba
Email: mariam.simba@uncdf.org
Mobile: +255655679705
United Nations Capital Development Fund:
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) mobilizes and catalyzes an increase in capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States, especially Least Developed Countries, contributing to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.
In partnership with UN entities and development partners, UNCDF delivers scalable, blended finance solutions to drive systemic change, pave the way for commercial finance, and contribute to the SDGs. We support market development by enabling entities to access finance in high-risk environments by deploying financial instruments, mechanisms and advisory.
The CookFund Fund:
https://apo-opa.co/44sIBb9
The “Accelerated Market Rollout of Clean Cooking Solutions in Tanzania”, or Cookfund Programme, is a five year programme funded by the European Union under the Integrated Approach to Sustainable Cooking Solution Initiative. The official launch took place on the 13th of December 2021 in Dodoma, Tanzania. The CookFund provides financial and technical assistance to eligible enterprises and companies to accelerate market roll-out of clean cooking solutions (stoves and fuels) leading to improved social, economic, and environmental conditions. It finances capital expenditures and/or working capital for building the internal capacity of businesses involved in the production, importation, distribution, wholesale or retail of stoves, fuels, or related products and services.
