Nigeria has pledged to increase the pace of its citizens’ access to clean cooking from an initially proposed trajectory of 22 percent per year to 25 percent annually.
This is contained in the new National Energy Compact for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, unveiled at the ongoing Africa Energy Summit in Dar Salam, Tanzania.
President Bola Tinubu is participating in the two-day summit alongside Sub-Saharan African leaders, international organisations, and global stakeholders in the Energy sector.
The new document contains targets and funding plans for how the country intends to meet universal access to electricity and clean cooking by 2030.
It reads: “The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is committed to transforming the energy landscape and accelerating the pace of energy access towards the provisioning of reliable, affordable, inclusive, sustainable and clean energy to the Nigerian people that will be the catalyst for social, economic and environmental progress of the country.”
On clean cooking
The document notes that Nigeria has increased access to clean cooking by expanding access by 3.2% per year from 2017-2022.
- This is short of the country’s target of increasing access by 22% annually.
- The document also noted that only 27 percent of Nigerians have access to clean fuels and technology for cooking.
“While significant gains have been made in expanding access to clean cooking in recent years (3.2% per year from 2017-2022), the access rate of 26% remains well below the global average of 74%,” the report notes.
It further states that clean cooking in the country is majorly based on the use of gas, “indicating that the adoption of electric cooking has yet to take off.
With the National Energy Compact, Nigeria commits to “Increase the pace of access to clean cooking to 25 percent annually from the recent trajectory of 22 percent per annum to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030, providing access to clean cooking to 227 million people and particularly benefiting women and marginalized communities.”
Data points to note
Based on the claim that only 27 percent of Nigeria’s 200 million-plus population have access to clean cooking, this means that approximately 150 million Nigerians rely on the use of traditional biomass for cooking, especially firewood and charcoal for cooking.
Nairametrics reported that 600,000 African women and children die annually from burning biomass for cooking.
According to a study in Energy Strategy Reviews, an estimated 128,000 people died in Nigeria in 2019 from household air pollution related to the use of biomass.
Compact Targets and Action Plan
The major targets and their respective action plans include:
- Increase access to electricity
From the current annual pace of 5% per year to a targeted pace of 9% per year between 2024 and 2030.
- Increase access to clean cooking
From the current annual pace of 22% per annum to a targeted pace 25% per annum between 2024 and 2030
- Increase share of Renewable Energy in the Energy Mix
The current share renewable energy in the energy mix is 22%. The Plan targets 50% (including hydro) by 2030.
