The IEA said more than 120 new clean-cooking policies have also been introduced across Africa since the 2024 summit.
Fatih Birol, IEA executive director, said the lack of access to clean cooking remains one of the most important global energy and development challenges, affecting close to two billion people worldwide.
‘The IEA has worked for more than two decades to advance access to clean cooking and elevate it on the global agenda,’ Birol said.
He said the agency was working with partners to mobilise further commitments ahead of the second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, scheduled to take place in Nairobi on January 27-28, 2027.
Despite the funding and policy momentum, the IEA said the rate at which people are gaining access to clean cooking in Africa is only now 30 percent higher than the average pace recorded over the previous five years.
The continuing access gap has major health and economic consequences. Traditional cooking practices contribute to household air pollution that is associated with an estimated 2.5 million premature deaths annually.
Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden because they often spend hours collecting cooking fuel and tending traditional stoves, limiting the time available for education, employment and other economic activities.
The environmental cost is also substantial. Emissions and deforestation associated with traditional cooking practices account for about 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to the IEA.
William Ruto, Kenya’s president, said the continent had the solutions and political will to achieve universal access to clean cooking but needed investment and implementation at scale.
‘What we need now is investment and delivery at the scale of our ambition,’ Ruto said.
He said Kenya would work with African governments and international partners to convert commitments into investment and implementation.
The next summit in Nairobi will be co-chaired by Kenya, Norway, the United States and the IEA, with support from the African Union and the African Development Bank Group.
Governments and institutions have been invited to make additional financial commitments and outline concrete measures for expanding access.
The IEA said clean cooking has increasingly become part of the international climate and energy agenda, featuring prominently under the last three COP and G20 presidencies and appearing in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions and Energy Compacts under Mission 300.