East African Mining News Unearthing Mining Opportunities in East Africa
Related Articles
Africa’s leading clean cookstove manufacturer, BURN,has secured USD 5 million from EDFI Management Company through the EU-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI) to deploy over 100,000 ECOA induction cookers in Kenyan households. This will cut fuel costs and prevent 1.4 million tons of CO₂ emissions through IoT and Pay As You Cook technology.
Despite Kenya’s electricity grid being over 90% renewable, more than 15 million households still rely on polluting fuels such as charcoal, wood or LPG for cooking. BURN Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Peter Scott said, “Kenya’s electricity grid is over 90% renewable yet more than 15 million households still cook with polluting fuels. This investment helps close that gap. With over 40,000 ECOA induction cookers already in homes across East and West Africa, we’re proving that electric cooking designed and built in Africa can be the future of clean, affordable energy access at scale.”
Across Africa, over 600 million people have access to electricity but do not use it for cooking due to the high upfront costs of electric cookstoves. ElectriFI’s investment will help BURN scale distribution of its IoT-enabled ECOA IDC, which incorporates innovative Pay As You Cook (PAYC) technology integrated with mobile money and the ECOA Mobile App. This system enables users to pay small amounts via their mobile phones, achieving full ownership within a year and reducing household fuel bills by 40% to 60%.
EDFI Management Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Rodrigo Madrazo, highlighted the broader impact of the initiative, “Access to clean and affordable cooking solutions is essential for sustainable development. Through ElectriFI, we are proud to support BURN’s pioneering work that not only improves household health and reduces environmental degradation but also strengthens local economies by creating manufacturing and distribution jobs across the value chain. Our investment underscores our commitment to driving private sector-led impact and accelerating the green transition in emerging markets.”
This investment aligns with the European Union’s goal to promote clean energy access, support local manufacturing, and foster climate resilience. It exemplifies how targeted catalytic financing can mobilise broader investment and empower private businesses to drive sustainable impact at scale. To date, BURN has distributed over 5 million clean cookstoves across Africa, transforming the lives of more than 25 million people and preventing approximately 26 million tons of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere.
