Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola has reiterated the need to enhance efforts towards promoting use of clean energy sources in the country.
Matola made the remarks at the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa which was held on Monday in Paris, France.
The forum was hosted under the theme ‘Catalysing Multi-stakeholder Partnerships’.
Matola joined peers discussing the importance of collaboration to address the cross-cutting issue of clean cooking access.
He called for coordinated efforts towards attaining the set aspirations.
Matola illustrated the far-reaching impacts of lack of clean cooking access using examples from the public hospitals, prisons, universities and boarding schools.
Matola said time has come for coordination across sectors and ministries like Energy, Natural Resources, Economic Planning and Public Transport to collaboratively tackle this issue.
“Only through partnership across stakeholders, we can end the vicious cycle of injustice facing women and girls due to lack of clean cooking access,” Matola said.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan concurred with Matola adding that her country is emphasising on clean cooking to avoid environmental degradation.
Many households in Africa, especially in rural areas, continue to struggle to adopt clean cooking solutions due to high costs, low availability and insufficient supply chains.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to invest €100 million over five years in clean cooking methods for Africa.
Speaking at the summit, Macron said France will mobilise even more through the Paris Pact for People and the Planet and through Finance in Common.
The conference brought together global leaders to make 2024 a turning point for progress on ensuring clean cooking access for all on the continent, and to mobilise the $4 billion needed annually to achieve this goal.
According to IEA, polluting and unsafe cooking methods cause the premature deaths of approximately 600,000 women and children every year.
