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ICLEI Africa Clean Cooking Centre is a regional centre of excellence enabling clean, safe, and affordable clean cooking access for people living in Africa’s hard-to-reach urban markets, where health risks, gender inequality, and climate vulnerability are prevalent.
Hosted by ICLEI Africa, the Centre brings together expertise, partnerships, tools, and resources to co-create practical solutions—grounded in lived realities, driven by local leadership, and aligned with national and global ambition.
We work with governments, partners, the private sector, and communities to:
- Place informal settlements at the centre of the clean cooking transition and inclusive urban development—where gains in health, gender equity, and climate resilience converge at scale.
- Strengthen capacity of subnational governments and clean cooking innovators to advance from promising pilots to inclusive, investment-ready models, ensuring that technical and financial solutions respond to real community needs.
- Scale proven approaches across the continent by leveraging ICLEI’s networks and membership to deliver on national and global goals.
Why it matters
Today, 1 in 5 Africans live in informal urban settlements, and 43% of the continent’s population lives in cities—a figure expected to reach 50% by 2030 (World Bank, 2023). Informal settlements already house more than half of the urban population, projected to rise to 60–70% by 2030 (UN-Habitat, 2020). Yet, 95% of this population lacks access to clean cooking (Clean Cooking Alliance, 2023).
We do not see informality as a barrier. We see it as a starting point. Informal settlements are vibrant, resilient, and full of solutions. They offer scale, density, and momentum—if systems can adapt to work with them, not around them, these communities can lead the clean cooking transition—and shape a future where no one is left behind.
The Centre builds on successful demonstrator projects in Uganda and Sierra Leone, where over 20,000 people have gained access to clean cooking. These projects show that when communities, governments, and innovators lead together, solutions that fit, and scale emerge.
Partner with us
Seed-funded by ICLEI Africa, the Centre is mobilising partners and funders to expand into five additional countries. It aligns with global and regional efforts to expand equitable clean cooking access and accelerate Africa’s broader climate and just transition goals.
“Cities are where the climate battle will largely be won or lost.” — António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
To partner with the Centre or support a country demonstrator project, contact: Ben Odongo, Head of the ICLEI Africa Clean Cooking Centre via email at ben.odongo@iclei.org.
