President William Ruto has called for increased investment in clean cooking across Africa, describing access to clean cooking as a key component of energy infrastructure, public health and economic development.
Ruto said African countries must mobilise more capital to expand access to clean cooking, including through local-currency financing, guarantees and other financial instruments capable of turning demand into viable investment projects.
The President made the remarks in New York during a high-level event on clean cooking held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Ruto said Kenya is leading efforts to attract investment into the sector, with a $600 million investment opportunity targeting schools, healthcare facilities and correctional institutions.
He said clean cooking should be treated as an essential part of Africa’s green transition rather than simply an energy-access issue.
“Clean cooking is energy infrastructure, vital to public health, economic opportunity and Africa’s green transition,” Ruto said.
The President said achieving universal access to clean cooking would require significant investment and innovative financing mechanisms to help projects attract capital.
Ruto co-hosted the high-level event with Norway, marking the first such high-level clean cooking event in Africa held during the UN General Assembly. The discussions are part of preparations for the Second Africa Clean Cooking Summit, scheduled to take place in Nairobi in January.
The International Energy Agency says nearly one billion people across Africa still lack access to clean cooking, with the challenge contributing to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths annually.
Kenya has positioned clean energy and investment mobilisation as part of its broader development agenda, with the government seeking to turn priority projects into investment opportunities for both domestic and international capital.
Ruto has previously argued that the high cost of capital remains a major obstacle to scaling up clean energy investments across Africa, calling for financing approaches that can unlock investment in the continent’s energy transition.
