By Oke Peter
Kenya, Norway, the United States and the International Energy Agency (IEA) will convene the second major international summit on clean cooking in Africa in 2026, building on momentum from a landmark meeting held last year. The summit will focus on expanding access to clean cooking solutions for the nearly one billion people across Africa who currently lack them.
The Nairobi-based summit will be co-chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. It is expected to bring together leaders from governments, international organisations and the private sector to accelerate progress on one of the continent’s most pressing energy and public health challenges.
The first IEA Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, held in Paris in May 2024, mobilised USD 2.2 billion in financial pledges from governments and private sector partners. Nearly 60 countries participated, including several African heads of government, leaders of international institutions such as the African Development Bank Group, and chief executives of major energy companies.
An update published in July 2025 showed that more than USD 470 million of the commitments made in Paris had already been disbursed. The IEA also released a new roadmap outlining a cost-effective pathway to achieving universal access to clean cooking across sub-Saharan Africa by 2040.
