Modern Cooking Facility for Africa
Results-based financing for scaling clean cooking solutions.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
* | €2.3m | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
The Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) is a multi-donor financing program established to increase access to high-tier, clean cooking solutions across Sub-Saharan Africa. Initially co-created by Sweden and Nefco in late 2021, the program is now financed by Sweden, the European Union, and Norway, and managed by Nefco – the Nordic Green Bank. The facility was developed to address the slow uptake of modern cooking technologies in a region where over 900 million people lack access to them.
MCFA operates through a results-based financing model combined with catalytic grants to support private companies, known as Cooking Service Providers. This model incentivizes these companies to scale up their businesses and establish sustainable markets for clean cooking technologies. The program provides funding to companies to enter new markets, scale existing operations, or launch new products. The financing is disbursed in stages, with up to 30% available upfront as a non-reimbursable grant and the remainder tied to achieving specific milestones. The first funding round was launched in 2022, with a second call for proposals in late 2023. By the end of 2024, MCFA had committed over EUR 22.3 million to 13 companies.
The program operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its objective is to provide over 4 million Africans with access to clean cooking solutions by 2029. The supported technologies include higher-tier solutions such as electric cookstoves, biogas, bioethanol, and sustainably produced solid biofuels like pellets and briquettes. MCFA particularly encourages business models that incorporate pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) systems and an integrated 'tool and fuel' approach. Through these initiatives, MCFA aims to mitigate deforestation, reduce CO2 emissions, improve health outcomes by decreasing indoor air pollution, and create new job opportunities.
Keywords: results-based financing, clean cooking, Sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable development, catalytic grants, renewable energy, impact investing, market development, energy access, Nefco, bioethanol, biogas, electric cooking, pay-as-you-go, carbon reduction, deforestation mitigation, public-private partnership, development finance, sustainable fuels, social impact