New portfolio company in Tanzania scaling up access to electric cooking services

A new agreement has been signed between the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) and an electric cooking provider in Tanzania to support the scale-up of electric cooking services for households in urban and peri-urban areas of the country.

The agreement has been signed with Sayari Safi Limited, which operates locally as UpEnergy Tanzania. In addition to Tanzania, the UpEnergy Group has operations in the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. The EUR 2 million of results-based financing to be provided from MCFA will mobilise additional co-financing, at least doubling the total capital invested by the end of the project implementation. This investment will make e-cooking more affordable and accessible for thousands of Tanzanian households and further support the clean energy transition in the country.

UpEnergy Tanzania sells electric cookers provided by PowerUP, a Uganda-based climate-tech venture that seeks to replace biomass stoves with e-cookers designed for low-income families. UpEnergy Tanzania aims to work with households that have a grid-connection but still rely on biomass for their daily cooking needs. Currently, UpEnergy Tanzania has some 40 full-time employees and plans to establish a network of 50+ commission-based distribution agents.

With the results-based financing provided from MCFA, the company aims to scale up its distribution of electric cooking services across Tanzania in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Morogoro, Mwanza and Pwani. UpEnergy Tanzania is also planning to expand its distribution team, open several new distribution centres, invest in activities to encourage behavioural change and increase adoption and explore partnership opportunities with mini-grid operators in Tanzania. The aim is to implement over 123,000 new e-cookers, which are expected to benefit over 600,000 Tanzanians by the end of 2027.

“Nearly 80% of Tanzania’s electricity is sourced from renewable energy. The rollout of accessible, clean electric cooking now presents an opportunity for families throughout the country to transition from biomass-dependent methods to electricity – the cleanest, healthiest cooking fuel. This shift will not only move households away from biomass but also bring substantial economic, health and social benefits. We are grateful for the support of MCFA, which will be pivotal in fast-tracking the adoption of advanced clean cooking technologies,” says Rehema Mbalamwezi, Vice President of UpEnergy’s Africa operations.

PowerUP’s e-cookers have been designed according to local cooking behaviours and include a bespoke user display relevant to local cuisine and in-built metering for accurate usage monitoring. The electric cooker, which has a capacity of six litres, can heat up to 180°C and offers cooking times up to 60% faster than traditional biomass stoves, offering significant time savings whilst also reducing the risks associated with hot stoves and open flames. Financially, households will be able to reduce their annual fuel costs, due to greater efficiency, and benefit from zero-emissions cooking, eliminating indoor air pollution that can be particularly harmful to women and children, who are often the primary cooks in the household.

“Through its strategic partnerships, UpEnergy Tanzania has the potential to transform cooking across Tanzania with its e-cookers and reach hundreds of thousands of people, thanks to the MCFA financing,” comments Heli Sinkko, Programme Manager at Nefco.

The Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) supports access to and scale-up of higher-tier clean cooking solutions. UpEnergy Tanzania was selected via a competitive application process under the Tanzania country programme as part of the first funding round (MCFA1). The selection process included a two-stage third-party evaluation of applications by independent experts and a detailed due diligence process carried out by Danish Energy Management A/S in consortium with LFS Advisory.

The second funding round (MCFA2) closed on 31 January for clean cooking providers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe with total available funding of up to EUR 16 million. The applicants have been notified of the Pre-Application outcome and next steps.

For further information, please contact:

Heli Sinkko, Programme Manager, Modern Cooking Facility for Africa, Nefco
Heli.Sinkko@nefco.int, +358 10 6180 659

Chris Bagnall, Group Marketing, UpEnergy Group
chris@upenergygroup.com

UpEnergy Group

UpEnergy delivers high-impact, emissions-reducing projects that accelerate decarbonisation, fight energy poverty and benefit low-income communities most at risk from climate change. To date, UpEnergy has deployed over 8,000 e-cookers across Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana. Learn more here: www.upenergygroup.com

Photo: Female customer using a PowerUp e-cooker – UpEnergy Group