The African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) has warned that up to a billion people across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) may still be using firewood and charcoal for cooking by 2030 unless urgent interventions are made to scale up the adoption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The Executive Secretary of ARDA, Anibor Kragha, speaking at the 2024 ARDA LPG Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, stressed the need for $4 billion in annual investments to accelerate LPG penetration and reduce the reliance on biomass.
Kragha highlighted that SSA currently has the largest population in the world without access to clean cooking fuels, with 80 per cent of its population dependent on biomass.
Since 2010, the number of people cooking with firewood and charcoal has increased by 220 million, underscoring the scale of the crisis. Without urgent intervention, Kragha projects that biomass dependency will persist, leaving millions exposed to health hazards from indoor air pollution.
Despite the potential of LPG as a cleaner cooking solution, adoption across the region remains limited, as Kragha said factors such as high initial cylinder costs, expensive refills, regulatory bottlenecks, and limited access to carbon credit financing have slowed progress.
Kragha noted that while innovative solutions—such as pay-as-you-go (PAYG) systems, microfinance options, and metered devices with carbon credits are emerging, these approaches have only achieved marginal increases in LPG consumption.
A comprehensive, large-scale strategy according to him is needed to make a lasting impact. Kragha emphasised the need for governments to create an enabling environment by enacting clear regulations, reducing barriers to entry, and exploring ways to scale LPG adoption even in the absence of subsidies.
He suggested learning from successful global LPG adoption models and improving access to carbon credit financing to fund clean cooking initiatives. LPG remains the fastest-growing petroleum product in SSA, with an annual demand growth of 7.8 per over the past decade.
However, Kragha said the region still consumes only one per cent of global LPG, despite accounting for 15 per cent of the world’s population. ARDA and the Global LPG Partnership (GLPGP) have proposed a $1 billion fund to boost LPG and BioLPG projects in Africa, but Kragha stressed that sustained funding of $4 billion per year will be required until 2030 to meet global clean cooking targets.
The upcoming International Energy Agency (IEA) Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, scheduled for May 14 in Paris, is expected to address the financing gap and explore strategies for increasing LPG penetration across the continent.
With deforestation accelerating and clean cooking solutions lagging, ARDA hopes that international partnerships and coordinated efforts will provide the resources needed to transition millions of households to sustainable, safe cooking methods.
Africa’s rapidly growing population, which is projected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050 and 4.2 billion within the next century, ARDA said requires improved adoption of LPG to address the clean energy crisis across all African countries.
Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and President of ARDA, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid insisted on adopting LPG as a cleaner, safer cooking alternative across the continent, adding that the global progress towards achieving the seventh United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) — ensuring affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all — remains slow, and Africa lags the most in access to clean cooking solutions.
