Energy Minister reiterates Ghana’s strong support for clean cooking at COP27

Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has reaffirmed Ghana’s strong commitment to promoting clean cooking anchored on its 2030 agenda of 50% of its population having access to Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Dr. Prempeh was speaking on the 10th November, at a Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Clean Fuels Solutions for Cooking Event which is part of the 2nd Middle East Green Initiative on the margins of COP 27 ongoing at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The event was under the patronage of His Royal Highness Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Minister said Ghana’s strategy for clean cooking is to improve the efficiency of cooking fuels production, transportation to markets, value addition and promotion of efficient end-user technologies.

He said by the end of 2030, Ghana will reduce the use of firewood and charcoal for cooking to below 30% which will improve our overall carbon footprint.

He added that the country will also increase access to LPG for household use to 50% from 36.9% at 2021 and provide LPG for commercial catering particularly in schools and other Government institutions.

The Minister who is also Member of Parliament for Manhyia South said as the demand for clean cooking solutions is growing, there is the need to turn attention to the efficient exploitation of the natural resources that are required for the clean cooking ecosystem.

“We need effective coordination and transparent accounting systems to unlock the enormous carbon financing opportunities and drive investment into the clean cooking sector” he said.

The current disruption in the global supply chain due to COVID-19 and other geopolitical challenges, according to the Minister makes it imperative to bring clean cooking interventions closer to markets. He therefore called for the need to develop local capacity along the entire value chain to support the catalytic growth of the clean cooking industry globally.

“Ghana is building capacity through a number of technical cooperations including the GIZ-TVET, the Senior High Schools Renewable Energy Challenge which have triggered interest in research and development and innovation in renewable energy and clean cooking solutions for the Ghanaian market and beyond. With support from the World Bank, Ghana is developing the National Clean Cooking Strategy and Investment Prospectus to provide the framework for the promotion and development of the industry”, he said.

He continued “Ghana with support from the World Bank successfully launched the result-based National LPG Promotion Programme on September 6th, 2022. The objective of the programme is to provide government interventions that would accelerate the switch from unclean fuels to LPG in a bid to achieve the goal of 50 per cent access by 2030. Government will distribute about 2million LPG stoves and install LPG cooking systems in institutions that cook on a large scale under this programme. These interventions complementing the Cylinder Recirculation Model will enable Ghana reach its targets aforementioned”

Dr. Prempeh indicated Ghana’s readiness for cooperations and partnerships to scale up Ghana’s National LPG Promotion and Improved Cookstoves Promotion Programmes.

Dignitaries at this function included Dr. Baomintsvotse Vahinals, Chief of Staff at the Office of the President of Madagascar; Ibrahim Yacoubou, Minister for Energy and Renewable Energy of Niger;E Sophie Gladima, Minister for Energy and Petroleum of Senegal and a host of other dignitaries on the African continent.