- The Rockefeller Foundation and partners have launched a Clean Cooking Accelerator Initiative to scale modern cooking access across Africa.
- The programme will deploy capital, technical expertise and delivery units to close a funding gap estimated at over $2bn annually.
The Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Clean Cooking Alliance and Energy Corps have launched a Clean Cooking Accelerator Initiative to expand access to modern cooking technologies across Africa. The partners unveiled the programme during a high-level dialogue at the International Energy Agency 2026 Ministerial in Paris.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol chaired the session. He joined Jamed Wandayi, Kenya’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Christopher Wright, United States Secretary of Energy, and Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Energy. Together, they emphasised the urgency of universal clean cooking access.
Across Africa, about one billion people still rely on wood and charcoal. According to the World Health Organisation, household air pollution from these fuels causes more than 810,000 premature deaths each year. Women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa face the highest exposure to respiratory disease.
The IEA considers clean cooking essential to Africa’s long-term prosperity. It estimates that closing the global access gap requires over $2 billion annually. However, rapid population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa widens the deficit by roughly 14 million people each year.
Modern solutions include electric stoves, biogas, bioethanol, liquefied petroleum gas and efficient biomass systems. These technologies emit far fewer pollutants than traditional fuels. Therefore, expanding access supports Mission 300, which the World Bank and the African Development Bank lead to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
Initially, the Clean Cooking Accelerator will operate in about six countries, which organisers will announce soon. The initiative will coordinate technical expertise, catalytic capital and implementation support. As a result, it aims to strengthen supply chains and enabling infrastructure while aligning existing programmes.
Under the Clean Cooking Fellows programme, The Rockefeller Foundation’s Mission 300 Accelerator and Energy Corps will collaborate with CoAction Global to develop a cohort of fellows. These professionals will build institutional capacity and create investable project pipelines.
Andrew Herscowitz, CEO of the Mission 300 Accelerator at RF Catalytic Capital, described the initiative as a major development opportunity. He stated that proven solutions already exist to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths. Consequently, the programme will focus on mobilising capital to scale them.
The Clean Cooking Alliance will act as a lead technical delivery partner. Its CEO, Dymphna van der Lans, stressed the need to shift from commitments to implementation. She highlighted market development and delivery capacity as immediate priorities.
Energy Corps will channel philanthropic funding to unlock private investment. Founder and CEO Toby Rice said the goal is to translate pledges into bankable projects and durable infrastructure.
Woochong Um, CEO of the Global Energy Alliance, noted that electric cooking initiatives have already reached more than 26,000 people in Kenya and Uganda. He added that the accelerator will align with Mission 300 National Energy Compacts and support dedicated delivery and monitoring units.
The initiative will unfold in two phases. First, it will deploy about $850,000 in grants for Clean Cooking Fellows and $250,000 for technical tools and training. Next, partners will mobilise larger investments by accelerating project pipelines and financing vehicles.
Furthermore, the programme enables African governments to request technical assistance under Mission 300. It also invites bilateral agencies, multilateral institutions and private firms to support regulatory reform and commercial deployment.
The announcement builds on progress made at the 2024 Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa. The IEA confirmed that the second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa will take place in Nairobi on July 9–10 2026, co-chaired by Kenya, Norway, the United States and IEA.