President Samia Suluhu Hassan has asked private sector to invest in clean cooking technologies.She made the call this afternoon while launching country’s national strategy on cooking energy for the next 10 years .The strategy is for 2024-2034.
She said: “More people spend more time searching for firewood, more women get diseases out of reliance .The environmental impact due to the growing use of wood and charcoal for cooking is huge.The most commonly cited impact is deforestation.”
As a result of the new strategy, they expect the gas to go up to the villages, through micro agents.
“For now, we implore our government structures to build an environment for the private sector to take gas upto the village level.”she noted
She asked the ministry of energy to ensure that the strategy reaches all stakeholders across the country and be translated in both English and Swahili.
The President asked the planning and finance sector to earmark areas which if worked on as a priority can expedite access to clean cooking energy.
According to her, there would also be establishment of a clean cooking energy fund.
She asked the Rural Energy Agency(REA) to re-organise and focus on access to clean cooking energy as well.
According to her, the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government – OR-TAMISEMI office to prepare an implementation report by August this year on how far the government’s 2024 goal has reached to ensure that all its institutions that serve at least 300 people, such as schools, hospitals, and prisons, in switching to cleaner cooking technologies.
She asked the OR-TAMISEMI to improve contracts which you enter with Regional Commissioners and District Commissioners, so that the issue of access to clean cooking energy is part of the performance indicators.
She said the African Women Clean Cooking Support Programme (AWCCSP) launched in Dubai last year was going on well.