Nearly 100,000 Nigerians die every year from illnesses associated with exposure to cooking smoke, highlighting the urgent need to accelerate access to cleaner and more affordable cooking solutions across the country.
The warning was made by Ewah Eleri – Executive Director, International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED) during the validation of the Kano State Clean Cooking Finance Plan, where stakeholders examined ways to mobilise investment and expand financing for clean cooking.
ICEED noted that reliance on traditional cooking fuels, particularly firewood and other forms of solid biomass, continues to expose millions of households to harmful household air pollution. Women, children and other household members who spend significant time around cooking areas are particularly exposed.
Beyond its health impacts, the continued dependence on traditional cooking fuels has implications for household welfare, livelihoods, environmental sustainability and Nigeria’s climate goals.
The Kano State Clean Cooking Finance Plan is designed to address one of the major barriers to clean cooking adoption: access to appropriate and affordable finance. The plan seeks to identify financing pathways that can support households, businesses and clean cooking enterprises in transitioning to cleaner technologies and fuels.
Speaking during the validation process, Mr. Eleri emphasised the importance of moving beyond policy commitments towards practical financing mechanisms that can reach households and businesses at scale. Unlocking finance for clean cooking will require stronger collaboration among government institutions, financial institutions, development partners, private-sector actors and clean cooking enterprises.
For many households, the upfront cost of clean cooking technologies remains a significant barrier, even where the technologies can reduce long-term energy expenditure and improve health outcomes. Expanding access to consumer finance, enterprise finance, guarantees, concessional capital and other innovative financing instruments can therefore play an important role in accelerating adoption.
The Kano plan forms part of broader efforts to strengthen the financing ecosystem for clean cooking in Nigeria and support the country’s transition towards cleaner, safer and more sustainable cooking practices.
Mr. Eleri also stressed the need for financing approaches to reflect the realities of low-income households and small businesses, ensuring that clean cooking solutions are not only available but affordable, accessible and suited to local needs.
With Nigeria seeking to achieve universal access to clean cooking, stakeholders say sustained investment and coordinated action will be essential to close the financing gap and accelerate the transition away from polluting cooking fuels.
The clean cooking transition presents an opportunity to simultaneously improve public health, reduce pressure on forest resources, create livelihoods and contribute to Nigeria’s climate and energy-access objectives.
