Our Mission
According to the 2020 Tracking Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: The Energy Progress Report, the world is falling short on its progress towards achieving universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services. The report shows that globally, 2.8 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. Household air pollution from cooking with traditional stoves and fuels is linked to nearly 4 million deaths each year since 2014. In Kenya, data from the Ministry of Health shows this accounts for an estimated 21,560 premature deaths (approximately 50% of which are children under the age of five) per year.
Our client sought to promote access to, and adoption of, clean cooking practices through a robust policy advocacy strategy designed to support and scale the growth of a new solution, using denatured bio-ethanol cooking fuel as a low-cost and modern alternative to traditional, highly polluting charcoal and kerosene.
Its policy goal was to reduce import tariffs and VAT on imported bioethanol to be competitive with dirty fuels and thereby drive up demand, which in turn would also create a basis for local industry to expand its ethanol production capacity.
Our Action
Africa Practice built a detailed understanding of the dynamic stakeholder universe, legislative process and the regional regulatory landscape to inform the design and implementation of a targeted engagement strategy. Our team engaged a diverse range of stakeholders to build consensus, mobilise support within the public and private sectors and promote the adoption of clean cooking technology to improve the health and safety of lower-income communities, reduce carbon emissions and create employment opportunities in the agricultural value chain.
Our Impact
Our campaign contributed towards a 16% VAT exemption on ‘denatured technical alcohol for domestic cooking fuel’ in the Finance Act 2021. This directly translated to a price reduction on ethanol cooking fuel, subsequently increasing the uptake of clean cooking solutions due to increased affordability.
Furthermore, awareness was created within government on the significant job creation and income-generating potential of the upstream bio-ethanol industry, through the promotion of the ethanol industry master plan, which is designed to foster and scale the clean energy sector in Kenya.
