Sub-Saharan Africa to Account for 58% of Global Clean Cooking Access Gap by 2030, IEA Projects
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly half of the world's population without access to clean cooking Population growth is outpacing progress, with more than 1 billion people expected to lack clean cooking access by 2027 Funding and policy efforts are increasing, but rural communities remain the most underserved Sub-Saharan Africa accounts. . .
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly half of the world's population without access to clean cookingPopulation growth is outpacing progress, with more than 1 billion people expected to lack clean cooking access by 2027Funding and policy efforts are increasing, but rural communities remain the most underservedSub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly half of the global population without access to clean cooking, according to a report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday, June 24. The report, titledTracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2026, said that nearly 970 million people in the region still lacked access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in 2024, out of 2 billion people worldwide. The region is expected to account for 58% of the global clean cooking access gap by 2030. According to the report, although more countries in sub-Saharan Africa are adopting policies to promote cleaner solutions, population growth continues to outpace gains in access. As a result, the number of people without access to clean cooking solutions is rising by about 14 million a year across the region and is expected to exceed 1 billion by 2027. A contrast with global progressThis contrasts with the progress made in several Asian countries. Since 2010, India alone has accounted for about 40% of the global reduction in the clean cooking access gap, compared with 30% for China and 10% for Indonesia. More broadly, 75% of the world's population primarily relied on clean cooking fuels and technologies in 2024. Despite this improvement since 2010, about 2 billion people still rely on polluting fuels for cooking. On the current trajectory, the share of the global population with access to clean cooking is expected to reach 79% by 2030. That would still leave 1. 8 billion people without access, well short of universal access, with the vast majority living in Africa. This persistent gap comes despite growing international efforts to promote clean cooking. At the first African Clean Cooking Summit, held in Paris in 2024, public and private stakeholders announced $2. 2 billion in commitments. According to an IEA note published in July 2025, $470 million had already been disbursed, while several African countries had strengthened their clean cooking policies. Those efforts remain insufficient given the scale of the challenge. In several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda and Tanzania, fewer than 10% of households use clean cooking fuels. The report also said the access gap remains primarily a rural issue. Of the two billion people worldwide without access, 1. 5 billion live in rural areas. For sub-Saharan Africa, the challenge is therefore not only to increase commitments, but also to expand access to clean cooking solutions in the most underserved areas. Abdoullah Diop