The global effort to expand access to clean cooking will require about $8 billion in annual investment through 2030, with roughly half of that funding needed in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Annual Report on Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development 2026.
The investment requirement highlights an energy-market challenge for developing economies, where millions of households continue to rely on traditional cooking fuels and technologies. Meeting demand for cleaner alternatives will require stronger fuel-supply infrastructure, more affordable equipment and financing models that allow households to adopt modern cooking solutions.
Nearly 2 billion people worldwide still rely on high-carbon-intensive fuels for cooking, the report says. In Sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 970 million people used polluting cooking methods in 2024, while the region’s access deficit has been increasing by about 14 million people annually as its population grows.
The report identifies liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, as an important transitional option in many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in rural areas where rapid electrification is unlikely. Natural gas, biogas, sustainably sourced modern biofuels and electric cooking linked to mini-grids and solar systems could also contribute to expanding access, depending on local conditions and infrastructure.
For businesses, the transition involves more than supplying cooking fuels. Expanding access also requires investment in distribution networks, storage facilities, equipment, consumer financing and delivery systems capable of reaching households beyond established urban markets. The report does not provide a specific estimate of the commercial market’s value, but its investment projections point to the scale of the financing requirement.
The OPEC Fund for International Development has supported several initiatives aimed at addressing the gap. In 2024, it signed its first dedicated clean-cooking loan, worth $35 million, for the SMART Clean Cooking Project in Madagascar. It has also supported technical assistance for clean-cooking deployment in Sierra Leone and previously backed an ECOWAS-wide initiative promoting LPG-based clean cooking across the 15 countries of the regional bloc.
Those programmes illustrate how development finance can support fuel access and infrastructure in markets where household affordability and the cost of expanding distribution networks can constrain adoption. The report also identifies consumer-finance solutions, stronger policy frameworks and new delivery models as important components of efforts to expand access.
The economic and social costs of the existing cooking deficit are substantial. Household air pollution, largely associated with traditional cooking fuels and technologies, was linked to an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths in 2021, including more than 309,000 children under five, according to the report.
Women and girls face disproportionate health risks and time burdens because of the hours often spent collecting fuel and cooking with inefficient stoves. The report estimates that nearly 49 million forcibly displaced people worldwide may lack access to clean cooking, while noting that this population remains insufficiently represented in national data and planning.
Policy discussions cited in the report point to affordability as a central obstacle. Proposed responses include targeted subsidies, tariff reforms and social-protection measures to address the upfront cost of stoves and fuels. Governments are also being urged to integrate clean cooking into national development plans, health strategies and climate commitments rather than treating it as a standalone energy initiative.
The report presents a multiple-pathway approach, recognising that countries have different energy systems, infrastructure and household needs. LPG may offer a practical option where electricity access is limited, while electric cooking and modern biofuels could expand as grids, renewable-energy systems and local supply chains develop.
For Sub-Saharan Africa, where the clean-cooking access deficit continues to grow, the challenge is to turn the projected investment needs into affordable, scalable programmes. Progress will depend on whether governments, development-finance institutions and energy providers can expand supply infrastructure while ensuring that cleaner cooking technologies and fuels are accessible to the households that need them most.
