Ruto unveils $600m clean cooking investment opportunity, Nairobi to host 2027 Africa summit

NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 23 – President William Ruto has co-hosted a high-level clean cooking event with Norway on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Kenya presented a $600 million investment opportunity in clean cooking and confirmed Nairobi as the venue for the Second Africa Clean Cooking Summit in January 2027.

“Clean cooking is energy infrastructure, vital to public health, economic opportunity and Africa’s green transition.” President William Ruto said in a statement posted on his official X account following the event.

Ruto said the $600 million opportunity had been identified through Kenya’s Institutional Clean Cooking Investment Pack and covers schools, healthcare facilities and correctional services. He said the country was seeking to turn demand for clean cooking into investable projects through local-currency financing, guarantees and results-based funding.

The New York meeting was organised by Kenya and Norway together with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the African Union and the Clean Cooking Alliance, in partnership with UN-Energy. It brought together government leaders, development finance institutions, international organisations and private-sector representatives to discuss financing and delivery of clean cooking solutions across Africa.

Ruto said clean cooking should be treated as part of Africa’s energy infrastructure, rather than as a separate household or social programme.

“Capital is held back because demand is fragmented and too much risk is left with households and small enterprises. Institutional aggregation, local currency financing, guarantees, and result-based funding can help correct that imbalance and turn need into investment demand.” he said.

He said Kenya was pursuing a pragmatic, multi-fuel approach that takes into account market conditions and consumer preferences, noting that countries would move at different speeds and use different technologies.

“There will be no single pathway. Different countries will move at different speeds and through different technologies, reflecting their resources, markets, infrastructure, and consumer needs.” Ruto said.

The President also raised the issue of livelihoods tied to traditional cooking fuels, particularly charcoal and firewood.

“Millions of people today depend on charcoal and firewood for their livelihoods. A transition that ignores them will not endure.” he said, adding that alternative livelihoods, retraining and a managed transition would have to be part of the process.

Ruto said the clean cooking transition could create jobs through fuel production and distribution, appliance manufacturing and assembly, installation and maintenance, retail and consumer financing.

He said clean cooking investment should also be incorporated into broader African industrialisation efforts so that more of the value generated by the transition remains on the continent.

The meeting comes amid a major clean cooking access gap in Africa. The IEA says around one billion people on the continent still lack access to clean cooking, while the lack of access is associated with health, environmental and economic challenges.

The 2024 Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris generated $2.2 billion in commitments from governments and the private sector. The IEA says $740 million of those commitments has since been deployed across 22 African countries.

IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol said the organisation was working with Kenya and other partners to maintain the momentum ahead of the next summit in Nairobi.

The second Africa Clean Cooking Summit is scheduled for January 27 and 28, 2027, according to Ruto’s remarks at the New York meeting. The IEA lists Kenya, Norway, the United States, the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank among the summit’s co-chairs and co-organisers.

Ruto said the Nairobi meeting should focus on specific actions rather than commitments alone.

“When we meet in Nairobi, let each one of us come prepared to point to one concrete step, a policy approved, a procurement launched, financing deployed, an investment committed, or a project advanced.” he said.

The summit will provide a platform for governments, investors, development partners, industry and civil society to review progress on clean cooking commitments and discuss further financing for expanding access across Africa.