- Stakeholders called for increased investment and stronger collaboration to accelerate clean cooking adoption in Nigeria.
- The dialogue highlighted clean cooking as critical to improving public health, expanding energy access and advancing Nigeria’s climate goals.
The Electricity Hub (TEH), in partnership with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria, and the German development agency GIZ, convened the 119th Power Dialogue at the UN House in Abuja to accelerate investment in clean cooking solutions and equitable energy access across Nigeria.
The dialogue, themed “Mobilising Investment for Clean Cooking and Equitable Energy Access in Nigeria,” brought together senior representatives from government ministries, development finance institutions, private sector innovators, and subnational actors to confront one of Nigeria’s most under-addressed development challenges: the fact that more than 176 million Nigerians still rely on firewood, charcoal, and kerosene for their daily cooking needs.
A Health, Climate, and Economic Imperative
Opening the dialogue, Dr. Geoffrey Omedo, Technical Specialist for Climate and Energy Finance at UNDP Nigeria, framed clean cooking as a cross-cutting development priority, not merely an energy issue, but one with direct implications for public health, gender equity, environmental sustainability, and Nigeria’s climate commitments under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0).
Dr. Omedo noted that Nigeria’s clean cooking policy targets ambitious shifts across multiple technologies by 2030, including growing LPG adoption to 54%, reducing kerosene use to zero, and scaling electric cooking, briquettes, biogas, and improved cook stoves. He presented two priority investment pipelines, LPG expansion and improved cook stoves, alongside emerging prototype technologies for private sector consideration.
Representing the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Executive Director of Finance and Administration Mr. Obaro Naji delivered remarks on behalf of Director-General Dr. Asishana Okauru, emphasizing that “the energy transition in Nigeria will not be achieved from Abuja alone. It will be realized across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.” He highlighted the NGF’s work under the Sustainable Energy Access Project (SEAP) to strengthen state-level energy planning and investment readiness.
Policy Alignment and Implementation Gaps
Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, Director and Head of the Department of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment, outlined the Ministry’s Clean Cooking Policy and its alignment with the National Climate Change Policy, disclosing an ongoing project to distribute 3,000 clean cook stoves across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones and the recent launch of an e-cooking pilot supported by the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCAC). She stressed that stronger coordination between federal ministries and subnational governments, particularly through the Governors’ Forum, remains critical to translating policy into results.
Chimereze Nwosu, Advisor on Sustainable Energy Investment, Nigeria Energy Support Programme (NESP), GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, emphasised that while Nigeria has developed strong policies and ambitious targets for clean cooking, the priority must now shift to implementation. He identified affordability, access to finance, consumer awareness, and coordinated policy execution across federal, state and local levels as key barriers to scaling clean cooking solutions.
Panel Discussion: Barriers, Data, and Gender-Responsive Investment
A moderated panel session examined the technical, financial and social barriers slowing clean cooking adoption. The session was moderated by Aisi Atiti, Lead, Energy Transition and Gender Equality at Energy Market and Rates Consultants. Panellists included Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, Director and Head of the Department of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment; Chimereze Nwosu, Advisor on Sustainable Energy Investment, Nigeria Energy Support Programme (NESP), GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS; and Brian Amonu, Managing Director of Data Analytics & Solutions Nigeria Limited.
Panelists identified affordability, access to finance, inconsistent policy implementation, and limited market data as the primary constraints on scale. Mr. Amonu presented a low-pressure natural gas and biogas cylinder technology, piloted commercially in Thailand since 2019 and demonstrated live at the event, capable of delivering cooking gas at approximately ₦400-₦600 per kilogram, significantly below prevailing LPG prices of roughly ₦2,000 per kilogram. He linked the solution to the Sustainable Energy Access Project, which aims to replace firewood and charcoal for 20,000 households in each of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas while delivering a minimum of 5 megawatts of electricity per local government area.
Speakers also identified the role of gender-responsive design, calling for greater representation of women as entrepreneurs, distributors, and decision-makers across the clean cooking value chain, alongside improved market intelligence to de-risk private investment.
State and Private Sector Commitments
Nasarawa State, one of three pilot states, alongside Akwa Ibom and Lagos, for Nigeria’s National Low Emission Development Strategy, presented findings from a state-wide clean cooking survey led by the Human Capital Development Agency. Director-General Habiba Balarabe Suleiman reported that 92.5% of surveyed households expressed willingness to transition to clean cooking, with affordability cited as the leading barrier. The state unveiled a ten-year, costed action plan valued at $62.4 million, including $12.35 million earmarked specifically for clean cooking initiatives, and detailed a capacity-building programme that has already trained 59 women across 13 local governments in biomass briquette production.
Asenita Agricultural Company Limited outlined a 50,000-litre-per-day cassava-based bioethanol plant under development in Edo State, supported by a 2,500-hectare cassava outgrower scheme targeting 80% youth and women participation.
The National Council on Climate Change (NCC) presented a framework for integrating e-cooking into Nigeria’s broader clean cooking financing pipeline, emphasizing the need for verified monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to unlock carbon market and climate finance opportunities under Nigeria’s national carbon market framework and NDC 3.0.
Looking Ahead
Closing the dialogue, Dr. Omedo reaffirmed UNDP’s technology-agnostic approach to accelerating clean cooking solutions and announced plans for a broader stakeholder convening in September 2026 to advance bankable pipelines ahead of engagement with the Mission 300 initiative. Organizers committed to producing a consolidated outcomes document to guide continued collaboration among government, development partners, and the private sector.