Nefco and Clean Cooking Alliance partner to accelerate clean cooking solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA), managed by Nefco, is partnering with the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) to strengthen their collaboration in promoting clean cooking solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Areas for collaboration include advancing industry standards and mobilising carbon-based and private finance. The partnership will focus on markets in six MCFA target countries, where there is a significant need for clean cooking solutions.

An estimated 2.4 billion people worldwide rely on polluting open fires and inefficient stoves for cooking, contributing to 3.2 million premature deaths and harming livelihoods, the climate, and the environment.^[1] Through the partnership, Nefco and CCA aim to expand access to modern cooking solutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The organisations have previously collaborated in designing the technical requirements for work around standards and testing.

“Nefco, through the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa, welcomes the opportunity to continue our partnership with the Clean Cooking Alliance. This ongoing collaboration is particularly important given our mutual interests in promoting access to clean cooking in sub-Saharan Africa in the coming years,” said Ash Sharma, Head of the MCFA and Vice President at Nefco.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with Nefco as we work together to strengthen the clean cooking sector,” said Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of CCA. “CCA’s market research shows that demand for modern clean cooking solutions is on the rise but that improvement still needs to be made in the areas of affordability, helping consumers make informed choices, and putting clean cooking companies and markets on a path profitability so that services sustain long after public funders exit. By improving access to clean cooking for millions of people in African countries, this partnership will help advance urgent global goals like climate action, environmental sustainability, and energy access.”

Through this partnership, Nefco and CCA will collaborate in various areas, including:

• Mobilising high-integrity carbon finance as part of innovative business and financing models to enable companies to lower costs to consumers;
• Piloting consumer principles to promote high industry standards in clean cooking;
• Mobilising private finance to accelerate investment in the clean cooking sector; and
• Knowledge management in areas related to the promotion of modern cooking solutions.

About the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA)

CCA works with a global network of partners to build an inclusive industry that makes clean cooking accessible to all. Established in 2010, CCA drives consumer demand, mobilizes investment, and supports policies that allow the clean cooking sector to thrive.

For more information, visit: www.cleancooking.org

About Nefco

Nefco, the Nordic Green Bank, is an international financial institution (IFI) that provides risk capital for Nordic green solutions. Established in 1990 by the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, Nefco serves the interest of its owners. Our task is to work with concrete actions to accelerate the green transition. By focusing on small and medium-sized projects with tangible results, we have been able to demonstrate how to implement climate and environmental projects in a sustainable and cost-efficient way.

For more information, visit: www.nefco.int

For further information, please contact:

Ash Sharma, Vice President of Special Funds at Nefco
ash.sharma@nefco.int, +358 10 618 06 53

Heli Sinkko, Programme Manager at Nefco
heli.sinkko@nefco.int, +358 10 618 06 59

^[1] World Health Organization, 2022: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health