By Carlos Claudio, Dodoma.
Kuja na Kushoka Tools Manufacturing, a company based in Tabora, has successfully supplied and installed briquette production machines in 61 prisons and 22 camps of the National Service (JKT) as part of efforts to promote the use of clean cooking energy in Tanzania.
Speaking about the implementation of the Tanzania Clean Cooking Program (TCCP), the company’s Director, Leonard Gabriel Shoka, said support provided through the African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) had enabled the company to deliver briquette production technology to beneficiaries and provide them with training on machine operation and production.
He said the technology has helped beneficiaries reduce their dependence on firewood and conventional charcoal while enabling them to produce briquettes using locally available raw materials.
“This project has enabled us to install machines in 22 JKT camps and 61 prisons, as well as provide production training so that beneficiaries can become self-reliant and completely stop using firewood and charcoal,” Shoka said.
However, Shoka identified limited access to financing from financial institutions as one of the major challenges facing companies operating in the clean cooking energy sector, saying the situation could slow down the expansion of clean cooking technologies across the country.
He said although the company has project contracts worth more than 1 billion Tanzanian shillings, some financial institutions have been reluctant to accept the contracts as collateral for financing project implementation.
He therefore called on the Government to address challenges related to access to finance in the clean cooking sector so that financial institutions can play a greater role in promoting investment and expanding clean cooking technologies.
“Without support from banks, we cannot go far. We are seeing a major impact in communities, but access to bank financing remains a challenge. We ask the Government to look into this issue so that clean cooking projects can achieve their intended goals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tanzania Clean Cooking Program (TCCP) Programme Manager Frederick Tunutu said the programme had significantly contributed to strengthening the capacity of companies operating in the clean cooking sector, particularly in reaching people in rural areas.
He said TCCP, which started in 2022, aimed to build the capacity of companies through grants to enable them to produce and distribute clean cooking technologies in areas that had previously been underserved.
“Many companies were concentrated in urban areas, but through the grants, we tried to ensure that they also reach rural communities,” Tunutu said.
According to Tunutu, the programme initially targeted 15 companies, but so far 13 companies have successfully received grants.
He said the project had initially targeted reaching 60,000 people, but exceeded expectations by reaching more than 180,000 people, with various institutions, including schools and colleges, benefiting from the technologies.
He added that a total of 900 improved cookstoves had been distributed to various schools, while the project received funding amounting to US$4.9 million.
Tunutu said small companies received grants starting from US$50,000, while larger companies received up to US$200,000, depending on their needs and the size of their projects.
He said the achievements demonstrate that Tanzania’s clean cooking sector is continuing to grow, with more companies investing in the production and distribution of clean cooking technologies.
On his part, Director of Clean Cooking Energy in the Ministry of Energy, Nolasco Mlay, said the Government had put in place various strategies to increase the use of clean cooking energy, including improving access to technologies and providing subsidies to consumers.
He said the Government, through the Rural Energy Agency (REA), continues to provide subsidies for clean cooking products to make them more affordable and accessible to a larger number of people.
According to the Ministry, more than 200,000 improved cookstoves are being distributed across the country at subsidized prices of up to approximately 85 percent, a move aimed at reducing costs for consumers and encouraging them to shift away from firewood and charcoal.
The Government is also implementing a programme to distribute more than 400,000 gas cookstoves with six-kilogramme cylinders at subsidized prices as part of efforts to increase the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in areas where people have traditionally relied on polluting cooking fuels.
The Government is further promoting electricity as a clean cooking energy source, with TANESCO continuing to implement an on-billing system that enables consumers to acquire electric cooking appliances and pay for them through their electricity bills.
The Ministry has emphasized that clean cooking energy is not limited to gas, but also includes electricity, biogas, briquettes and other safe and efficient technologies.
Some companies have also introduced Pay-As-You-Go systems, allowing consumers to acquire cooking equipment and pay in installments, thereby reducing the burden of high upfront costs.
According to the Government, these strategies aim to ensure that both urban and rural communities have access to affordable clean cooking energy, while reducing dependence on firewood and charcoal to help protect the environment and improve public health and livelihoods.
Tunutu said the achievements of the programme demonstrate the importance of collaboration among the Government, development partners, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, financial institutions and communitiesin advancing Tanzania’s national clean cooking agenda.
He said the next priority is to accelerate the distribution of clean cooking technologies in rural areas, where dependence on firewood and charcoal remains high due to challenges related to the availability and affordability of alternative technologies.
Overall, the initiatives are strengthening Tanzania’s efforts to expand access to clean cooking energy and reduce dependence on polluting fuels, with the private sector playing an increasingly important role in providing solutions.
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