Access to clean cooking equipment in sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag behind other regions, with four in five people using wood, charcoal, or dung as fuel over open fires or using basic stoves, according to an International Energy Agency report.
Cooking with such equipment has been found to contribute to 800,000 premature deaths per year, mostly due to household air pollution.
“Women and girls pay the highest price,” IEA chief Fatih Birol said, calling it “a major global injustice” that could be solved at a cost of less than 0.1% of global energy investment.
However, slow progress is being made: More than 70% of Africans without access to clean fuels live in countries that have strengthened their clean cooking policies since 2024, the study found.
