Education
AGNES seeks stronger partnerships to advance e-cooking in Nigeria – EnviroNews
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A non-profit organisation, Africa Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES), has called for stronger collaboration, increased investment and coordinated implementation to accelerate adoption of e-cooking technologies across Nigeria.
The County Director of AGNES Nigeria, Dr David Awolala, made the call on Thursday, June 2, 2026, in Abuja at the inception workshop on integrating e-cooking into Nigeria’s national clean cooking policy implementation plan.
Awolala commended the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Presidency, National Council on Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Power, Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the United Nations Environment Programme for supporting the initiative.
According to him, clean cooking remains one of Nigeria’s most pressing development as well as climate and public health challenges, noting that millions still rely on firewood, charcoal and kerosene for cooking.
“Clean cooking cannot be treated only as a household energy issue. It is a national priority that cuts across health, environment, energy, climate action and economic development,” he said.
The country director noted that e-cooking offered opportunities to reduce household air pollution, improve energy efficiency, stimulate local enterprise, strengthen energy access and support Nigeria’s climate and development commitments.
According to him, successful implementation would require affordable appliances, reliable electricity, supportive policies, innovative financing, consumer awareness, market development and effective institutional coordination.
“Clean cooking solutions must move beyond policy discussions into practical programmes and investments that improve lives and transform communities at scale,” he said.
Awolala added that Nigeria’s carbon market framework and climate commitments had positioned the country to attract investments, generate carbon credits and accelerate access to modern cooking technologies.
He, however, announced the opening of AGNES’ Nigeria country office on July 1, urging stakeholders to contribute practical ideas that would strengthen e-cooking policy implementation and financing.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Dr Salihu Usman, said stakeholders must move beyond policy discussions and ensure effective implementation through sustained collaboration and partnerships.
Usman was represented by Dr Iniobong Abiola-Awe, Director of Climate Change Department in the ministry.
According to Usman, e-cooking supports Nigeria’s climate commitments, improves public health, promotes renewable energy adoption, creates green jobs and strengthens domestic manufacturing of cooking technologies
“Government has provided the necessary policy framework. The success of implementation now depends on our collective commitment and partnership,” he said.
Usman urged development partners, academia, civil society and private sector stakeholders to develop scalable financing mechanisms to accelerate affordable, safe and sustainable clean cooking adoption.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman, said about 167 million Nigerians lacked access to clean cooking, describing it as a major public health and development crisis.
Mamman, who was represented by Dr Sunday Owolabi, a director in the ministry, said e-cooking offered opportunities to improve energy access and reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, while advancing Nigeria’s renewable energy transition.
He called on development partners, financial institutions and private investors to strengthen collaboration, financing and consumer awareness to accelerate the adoption of affordable clean cooking technologies.
Also speaking, Jumaima Ella, Head of Secretariat, Rural Women Energy Security (RUWES) Initiative, urged stakeholders to place rural women at the centre of Nigeria’s clean cooking transition efforts.
Ella pledged RUWES’ commitment to supporting implementation through community engagement, ensuring no rural woman was excluded, as clean energy improves health, education and future opportunities.
In her goodwill message, Mrs. Sola Fatoba, Regional Carbon Policy Lead, West Africa, BURN Manufacturing, commended Nigeria’s leadership in clean cooking, describing e-cooking as vital for achieving universal clean energy access.
Fatoba, who said that BURN had invested nearly 10 million dollar in a Kano clean cookstove factory, pledged continued support for Nigeria’s energy transition through climate finance.
Highpoint of the workshop was the inauguration of National e-Cooking Steering Committee to strengthen implementation of the country’s national clean cooking policy.
By Nefishetu Yakubu
