By Chinyere Anyanwu
Greenplinth Africa and Allgreen Energy NV have signed a $10 billion manufacturing agreement for the production of 24 million stoves under Greenplinth Africa’s 80 million clean cookstoves project in Nigeria.
The President & Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Greenplinth Africa, Dr. Olawale Akinwumi, made this known at the recent signing ceremony held in Lagos.
Dr. Akinwumi said Allgreen Energy NV and its partners will be supporting the 80m Clean Cookstoves Project in Nigeria with an investment of $10 billion within the next 18 months.
The stoves, he said, will be delivered over a period of two years starting from July 2026.
The Greenplinth Africa GCEO, who was upbeat about the partnership with Allgreen Energy, noted that, “a definite journey for a determined and uncompromising delivery of clean and efficient cooking technologies for women and households in Nigeria and Africa starts today and now.
More than 950 million Africans lack access to clean cooking methods. Out of this figure, over 180 million Nigerians are counted. It is time to intentionally do something about this scourge in Africa, and for Africans.
“The 80m Clean Cookstoves Project is a transformative initiative, and a significant step forward in combatting the adverse health and environmental impacts associated with traditional cooking methods, such as indoor air pollution and deforestation.” Furthermore, Akinwumi said the, “provision of free clean cookstoves and free briquettes as fuel is set to transform the lives of millions of Nigerians, particularly women and children, who are disproportionately affected by the harmful effects of traditional cooking practices.
“The adoption of clean and efficient cookstoves by households will lead to improved indoor air quality, reduced respiratory illnesses, and largely contribute to mitigating climate change through lower carbon emissions.”
Explaining that the 80m Clean Cookstoves Project is part of the organisation’s Agenda 2030, Akinwumi called on wellmeaning Nigerians to see the Agenda 2030 as a collective mission requiring collective action.
Also speaking at the event, the Senior Assistant to the Lagos State Government on Climate Change, Mrs. Titilayo Oshodi, commended Greenplinth Africa for its continuous efforts aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change on the environment and human lives.
Speaking on the topic, “Access to Clean Cooking in Africa: Nigeria as a Case Study”, Oshodi stated that, “across Africa, millions of households still rely on traditional biomass such as firewood and charcoal for daily cooking. In Nigeria alone, over 180 million people are affected by this reality, with women bearing the greatest share of the burden. This dependence is not only inefficient, but also contributes to indoor air pollution, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and lost productive time for households. But beyond the scale of the problem, what matters most is the evidence that change is already possible.”
According to her, “clean cooking adoption is not just a technical rollout, it is a social diffusion process. When communities see real, tangible improvements in health, cost and convenience, adoption becomes organic. The Makoko experience demonstrates that once the benefits are visible, the demand for clean cooking solutions does not need to be forced, it scales naturally through trust and observation.
This is why this intervention is highly relevant for the African continent.
“If such outcomes can be achieved in one of the most densely populated and economically constrained communities in Lagos, then the model is adaptable across similar contexts in Africa; urban slums, peri-urban settlements, and rural communities where biomass dependence is still dominant.”
Concluding, Oshodi said, “the way forward is clear: from demonstration to scale, from local impact to continental adoption, and from technical solutions to fully financed systems for Africa’s future.”
In his goodwill message, the former deputy vice chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Babajide Alo, lauded the efforts of Greenplinth Africa in tirelessly seeking for ways to decarbonise and improve Nigeria’s as well as Africa’s environment.
Alo said, “we lend our full support to the efforts of Olawale and his colleagues in Greenplinth Africa and we say that whatever it is we are doing, let us be conscious that the people out there need a lot more awareness.
“The 80 million clean cookstove project is one which creates incredible differences for our people because wherever you find vulnerable populations, poverty is also created. Therefore, imagine what will happen; what changes will come to their lives from being introduced to using the clean cookstoves.”
He called for more concerted efforts in organising roadshows to draw attention of Nigerians to climate change and decarbonisation initiatives across the geopolitical zones of Nigeria, saying, “we hope that in that manner we’ll be able to get our citizens to appreciate not only that there is climate change, but to appreciate activities that can mitigate climate change.
“Makoko seems to be an example right now, but there are several Makokos in Lagos State and across Nigeria that need similar attention.”
Giving an overview of the project, Dr. Babajide Aina, Greenplinth Africa’s Deputy Managing Director/Chief Finance Officer, explained that the 80 million clean cookstoves that will be distributed across Nigeria is going to generate 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 offset annually over a minimum period of 15 years.
In addition, Aina said the project is going to create over 35 million jobs in Nigeria as each state will have a minimum of 2 million stoves and a minimum of 100 million trees to curb deforestation.
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