The governments of Kenya, Norway and the United States, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) will next year hold the second major international Summit dedicated to providing clean cooking access to the 1 billion people in Africa who currently lack it, bringing together the public and private sectors to accelerate the momentum generated by the landmark 2024 Summit held by the IEA and partners in Paris.
The 2026 Summit will take place in Nairobi and be co-chaired by President William Ruto of Kenya, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
The first Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa took place in Paris in May 2024, mobilising $2.2 billion in financial pledges from governments and the private sector. Close to 60 countries took part, including leaders from several African governments; heads of international organisations, notably the African Development Bank Group; and CEOs of major energy companies.
In July 2025, the IEA published an update showing that more than $470 million of the commitments from the Paris Summit had already been disbursed – and also set out a new roadmap for a cost-effective pathway to reaching universal access to clean cooking across sub-Saharan Africa by 2040.
The report was launched by Dr Birol with African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Lerato Mataboge, and Special Representative of the President of Tanzania for Clean Cooking, Jacqueline Kawishe. Ms. Mataboge and Ms. Kawishe highlighted the value of the cooperation with the IEA on advancing clean cooking access in Africa and how local policy efforts were helping to rapidly expand the domestic clean cooking market.