Clean cooking solutions for schools in Tanzania

The first agreement to scale access to clean cooking solutions for institutional customers has been signed with Hanny G Investment, a Tanzanian company producing and selling clean cooking stoves for schools.

The fourth MCFA project in Tanzania has been signed with Hanny G Investment Company Ltd, a women-led company incorporated in Tanzania in 2016. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the company switched its business focus from carbonised charcoal for households and hotels and started selling non-carbonised briquettes for schools and institutional customers.

There are some 22,000 state primary and secondary schools in Tanzania, which are nearly all reliant on firewood for cooking. Tanzania’s National Clean Cooking Strategy 2024-2034 urges institutions to shift from the use of charcoal and firewood to alternative fuels, creating an enabling environment for businesses. This is a large untapped market: educational institutions require affordable, clean fuel alternatives, primarily due to regulations limiting the use of traditional fuels.

Hanny G Investment sells natural draft stoves together with sustainable briquettes to institutional customers, such as schools, colleges and larger organisations, in rural and peri-urban areas in Tanzania. These education facilities currently use mainly charcoal and firewood to meet their daily cooking needs.

“We are proud to partner with MCFA and Nefco to accelerate Tanzania’s clean cooking transition. This collaboration will enable us to expand access to affordable, sustainable and locally produced clean energy solutions for schools and institutions while creating economic opportunities for women and young people. Together, we are building a greener and more inclusive future for Tanzania,” comments Hanny Abdi Mbaria, Managing Director at Hanny G Investment Company Ltd.

With the EUR 1 million in MCFA funding, Hanny G Investment will scale up its operations by expanding its briquette production facility in Mafinga, located in the Iringa region of Tanzania’s northern highlands. The Mafinga plant is strategically positioned near vast government-managed forest plantations and surrounded by sawmills and veneer industries, providing a reliable and sustainable source of raw materials for producing briquettes, which are used for fuelling the stoves.

With the MCFA’s support, the aim is to establish up to some 4,300 clean cooking services to institutional customers across Tanzania by the end of 2029. Up to 7,600 school kitchen staff will benefit from the positive health outcomes of the new clean cooking solutions, which are also set to free up significantly more class time for school children and students, many of whom are currently required to help in collecting the firewood used for cooking school meals.

“We are very delighted to have signed our first project exclusively focused on scaling up access to clean cooking solutions for institutional customers. Hanny G Investment is a company with great opportunities for growth and is helping to increase awareness and accelerate access to clean cooking for children and students across Tanzania,” comments Emma Yrjölä, Programme Officer at Nefco.

Hanny G Investment manufactures its institutional stoves in Arusha, Northern Tanzania. The company operates four semi-automated briquette production lines, ensuring a consistent and sustainable fuel supply for schools and institutions. Each Jiko Poa stove is equipped with a chimney system that removes smoke and improves air circulation, creating a safer and healthier cooking environment in school kitchens.

The Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) supports access to and the scale-up of higher-tier clean cooking solutions. Hanny G Investment was shortlisted under the second funding round (MCFA2) of the Tanzanian country programme. The selection process included third-party evaluations of the final applications by independent experts and a detailed due diligence process carried out by Danish Energy Management in consortium with LFS Advisory.

For further information, please contact:

Emma Yrjöla, Programme Officer, Nefco
emma.yrjola@nefco.int, +358 106180826

Hanny Abdi Mbaria-Managing Director
hannymbaria@gmail.com, +255743436612

About Hanny G Investment

Hanny G Investment Company Ltd is a women-led renewable energy enterprise based in Tanzania, committed to transforming institutional and community cooking practices through sustainable energy solutions. Established in 2016, the company manufactures and distributes high-efficiency institutional cookstoves with chimneys and sustainable biomass briquettes made from agricultural residues. Hanny G Investment employs an integrated ‘tool-and-fuel’ business model that pairs its Jiko Poa stoves with Kuni Poa briquettes to deliver a complete, affordable and clean cooking solution. The company’s innovative Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) model makes these solutions accessible to schools and institutions by reducing upfront costs and promoting faster adoption for all lower-income customers. Currently, 70% of its workforce comprise women and young people. Its mission is to ensure every institution cooks cleanly, efficiently and sustainably. Learn more at www.hannyginvestment.co.tz