ABIDJAN: Development partners gathering in Paris on 14 May are expected to pledge towards the $4 billion needed to provide clean cooking access for 250 million African women by 2030.

African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina will co-chair the Clean Cooking Summit, to be held in Paris, alongside President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol, according to an AFDB media statement.

The landmark event aims to drive significant change in clean cooking access for the nearly one billion Africans using polluting fuels, which cause the premature deaths of approximately half a million women and children every year.

Women and girls spend up to five hours a day collecting fuel and cooking. This leaves little time for education, social or economic activities. Worldwide, the annual economic cost of women and girl’s time searching for fuel wood is estimated at $800 billion. The health costs are as high
as $1.4 trillion.

The capital investment needed to ensure universal clean cooking access in Africa by 2030 is accessible. The $4 billion needed annually is a small fraction of the $2.8 trillion invested globally in energy each year.

The summit aims to mobilise this much-needed finance. It brings together governments, development partners, private companies and NGOs to make concrete commitments and develop action-oriented strategies to accelerate progress on clean cooking.

Source: Emirates News Agency