Carbon credits drive Africa's clean cooking push, but risks remain

In Nairobi, Mary Kavutha now prepares her family's meals on an induction cooker, a shift from the charcoal stove that once filled her kitchen with smoke and cost her about $1.15 daily in fuel. Today, she spends roughly 80 cents on electricity to cook multiple meals, a change she describes as faster, safer for her young children, and significantly cheaper.

Kavutha is among a growing number of Africans adopting cleaner cooking technologies, a transition largely enabled by carbon credit financing. This model allows clean cooking companies to raise upfront capital against future revenues from verified emission reductions, effectively subsidising the retail price of stoves for low-income households.

The need is urgent. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that nearly one billion Africans still rely on charcoal or firewood, with household air pollution contributing to around 850,000 deaths annually on the continent. In response, more than 30 governments, representing countries where about 80% of Africans without clean cooking access live, have introduced 121 new policies since the 2015 Paris climate summit.

Industry leaders argue that carbon finance is indispensable for scaling up access. Peter Scott, CEO of cookstove manufacturer BURN, says the company's biggest innovation is its financing model rather than the hardware itself. BURN has distributed over 7.3 million stoves across 11 African countries, with efficient biomass stoves that normally retail for about $40 available to customers for as little as $5 after subsidies. More expensive induction cookers are financed through carbon credits and pay-as-you-go plans.

However, the approach faces significant challenges. Critics point to the closure of Koko Networks, a Kenyan firm once seen as a flagship of Africa's green transition, which shut down in February after failing to secure government authorisation to sell carbon credits. George Mwaniki of WRI Africa cautions that carbon finance typically arrives only after the initial investment in manufacturing and distribution has been made, creating a funding gap for companies. "If we depend wholly on carbon credits to support the transition, it will be extremely slow," he warns.

Companies are adapting to local conditions, with electric cooking gaining traction in Kenya and Tanzania, while biomass stoves remain popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar. Firms like Eco Safi and BioMassters are developing pellet stoves and fuels made from agricultural waste. For households like Kavutha's, the immediate benefits are clear: a cleaner kitchen, safer children, and lower costs.