The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a $15 million (Ksh2 billion) financing agreement with world’s leading clean cooking appliance manufacturer and distributor BURN.

EIB investment will fund the distribution of BURN’s ECOA Electric Induction cooker to households across the East African region.

The announcement was made at a signature ceremony on the margins of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Washington.

EIB Group President, Nadia Calviño, said the funds will finance a solution that could significantly reduce indoor air pollution in homes across the world.

This is a problem that currently causes 4 million premature deaths a year, and disproportionally affects the health of women living in developing countries. 

“The investment that we have agreed today is not just about improving lives but saving them as well.  With relatively simple technology for clean cooking, we will strengthen communities, especially by protecting the health of women, and their families,” Calviño said.

Calviño explained that the move will have a positive impact on the climate as well by lowering carbon emissions. 

“Supporting potentially transformative projects like BURN’s expansion of affordable clean cooking for more than a million households in Africa is the kind of initiative that the European Union aims to support more of under our Global Gateway Initiative,” she said.

BURN CEO Plans for the Funds

Peter Scott, BURN Founder and CEO, said the EIB financing will enable the appliances to be offered via BURN’s innovative Pay-As-You-Cook (PAYC) payment offering.

This tech-enabled payment solution enables affordable financing for low-income households currently using solid biomass as their primary cooking fuel but who are unable to afford full upfront payments typically required for clean electric cooking appliances.

“BURN has already brought our unique PAYC electric cooking solution to thousands of households in Kenya and Tanzania that were previously relying on traditional charcoal stoves,” he said.

“This investment by EIB will help us transition over a million low-income households to cooking with electricity, allowing them to cook on grids that are 80-95% powered by renewable energy.”

The project is actively supporting the empowerment of women and has been qualified as a gender lens investment by the 2X Challenge.

The Challenge is a global initiative launched at the G7 summit in 2018 and aims to accelerate private sector investments that support women in low- and middle-income countries, using a standardized set of criteria known as the 2X criteria. 

EIB’s financing support to BURN is through the Desiree Investment Envelope under the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Impact Finance Envelope (“IFE”).  

Further, the financing package from the European Commission aims to support the participation by the EIB in high-risk projects in ACP countries.

This aims to support greater investments in energy efficiency and electrification ventures.

The IFE supports projects that generate superior developmental impact with the overarching objective of poverty reduction through developing the private sector by taking a higher risk of investment for high developmental impact.

Company’s Cooking Appliances

The ECOA Induction cooker is bundled with a high-quality, 3-piece stainless steel induction cookware set, fully manufactured in Kenya.

Theses appliances reduce indoor air pollution by 100%, decrease cooking time by 70%, and save households money on cooking fuels.

Additionally, BURN’s electric cooking appliances generate high-integrity carbon credits by using integrated cellular-enabled IoT technology which allows effective, real-time and end-to-end monitoring of energy usage.

These electric appliances reduce ~2.5 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, and contribute to EIB’s climate action, gender equality, and economic development objectives. 

The company, which also exports its products to other countries, is showcasing Africa’s untapped manufacturing opportunities, that create sustainable job opportunities for many young people. 

To date, BURN has distributed over 5 million clean cook stoves across Africa, transforming the lives of 25 million people and preventing 26 million tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere.

About BURN 

Founded in 2011, BURN is Africa’s leading producer of clean cookstoves, committed to saving lives, protecting forests, and reducing CO2 emissions.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, BURN operates in 9 countries and employs over 3,500 people, with a mission to revolutionize the clean cooking sector and provide sustainable cooking solutions across the continent.