About us

Programme objectives

The aim of the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) is to provide up to 4 million Africans with access to clean cooking solutions, in seven Sub-Saharan African countries, improving health and climate by reducing indoor air pollution, avoiding CO2 emissions and mitigating deforestation.

MCFA will do this by financially incentivising companies offering clean cooking solutions, so-called Cooking Service Providers, to engage in the business of offering affordable, high-quality and energy-efficient clean cooking services and thereby accelerating the creation of a long-term sustainable market.

The programme supports the use of cleaner and sustainable cooking fuels, such as sustainably produced bioethanol, bio-LPG, LPG (in selected countries), biogas, electric cooking solutions and solid biofuels from sustainable sources, e.g. pellets and briquettes. Read more about supported technologies.

The implemented projects will result in avoiding CO2 emissions, saving forest, decreasing consumers’ exposure to black carbon and reducing respiratory diseases especially for women and children.

This will also help to increase job opportunities in the project countries with the focus on empowering women by incentivising companies to enter, grow and scale up existing operations to all regions in the project countries.

MCFA in short

Looking for comprised information about the MCFA programme, our activities, objectives and impact? Read more about MCFA in a summarised format and download:

• Digital brochure
• Printable version

Programme donors

The MCFA is funded by Sweden, Norway, and the European Union. Representatives from these Donors make up the MCFA Steering Committee, which serves as the programme’s strategic forum. In biannual Steering Committee meetings, Nefco reports on progress and presents annual work plans, while donors offer strategic guidance and advice to support the achievement of the MCFA programme’s objectives. The MCFA Steering Committee provides recommendations and serves as a forum for donors to discuss and coordinate with concerned embassies in the project countries. These discussions precede formal decisions on the Facility Manager’s recommendations on behalf of donors.

Sweden

Sweden, through the embassies in the project countries and Sida – the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, is supporting MCFA activities in six project countries. Sweden took the initiative to establish the programme together with Nefco in 2021.

Sida – the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency – is a government agency working to create better living conditions for people living in poverty and under oppression around the world. Sida works on behalf of the Swedish government and parliament and the agency’s activities are funded through Swedish tax revenue.

Swedish embassies in the MCFA project countries:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Kenya
• Mozambique
• Tanzania
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Norway

Norway, through Norad (the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), is supporting MCFA activities in six project countries.

Norad is the Norwegian agency for development cooperation, an administrative and professional body for international aid, assisting in realising the goals of Norwegian development policy. Norad works for a greener future in a world without poverty. Human rights must be respected and no one left out. Through knowledge and cooperation, Norad ensures that Norwegian aid funds contribute to global development.

European Union

The European Union is providing EUR 12.5 million to support market development for clean cooking in Zambia. The EU funding is provided under the Zambian Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Transformation Programme (ZEEST), whose main objective is to unlock the potential of the private sector to contribute to the attainment of national energy efficiency and climate resilience goals.

The contribution to MCFA is part of the European Union Global Gateway initiative, a new European strategy to boost smart and clean projects that combine public and private financing. Global Gateway includes five areas: climate and energy, transport, health, digital development, and education and research to support green and digital transitions beyond Europe’s borders. The initiative is implemented through a Team Europe approach, which brings together the EU and EU member states with their financial and development institutions working together on common priorities and principles to achieve scale and have visible impacts in partner countries.

Facility Manager

Nefco

As Facility Manager, Nefco – the Nordic Green Bank – has overall responsibility for the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa, including fundraising, financial administration, procurement of projects and programme consultants, contracting and disbursements, monitoring of project results and dissemination of programme impact.

For more information, please visit: www.nefco.int

Service Providers

MCFA is collaborating with several service providers to implement the programme:
Catalyst Energy Advisors, together with Distill Inclusion, Gaia and MAF Lab, provide advisory services to MCFA portfolio companies across areas such as operations development, credit management, corporate finance, environment and sustainability, and gender inclusion.

HAMERKOP Climate Impacts is a consulting firm specialising in climate finance, energy access and nature-based solutions. They have worked on assignments in over 50 countries, effectively supporting carbon project certification and implementation, offering climate finance advice, and guiding climate policy development. They support MCFA portfolio companies in navigating complex carbon markets.

NIRAS International Consulting and 60 Decibels serve as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) for MCFA, providing rigorous, third-party verification of programme results and customer satisfaction surveys. Together, they ensure that reported outcomes are accurate, credible and aligned with MCFA’s objectives, strengthening accountability and supporting evidence-based learning and decision-making across the facility.

The Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) works with MCFA by managing Prospect and supporting its deployment for both the portfolio companies and the programme. Prospect, developed together with GET.invest, is an open-source digital public good that streamlines energy data collection, as well as aggregation, verification, and reporting.

Partners

Clean Cooking Alliance

Clean Cooking Alliance (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, mobilises investment, and supports policies that allow the clean cooking sector to thrive.

Read more at: www.cleancooking.org

GET.invest

GET.invest is a European programme that supports investments in decentralised clean energy projects. It works with project and business developers, their associations, financiers and regulators towards affordable, reliable and clean energy for all. The programme is supported by the European Union, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Since 2022, GET.invest powers the Team Europe One Stop Shop for Green Energy Investments, an access point for information about and facilitated access to European support and financing instruments for energy projects and companies in Africa.

Read more at www.get-invest.eu