Ireland to provide €6.26 million to support private sector entities accelerate provision of Alternative Energy Cooking Solutions targeting urban and peri-urban areas of Malawi
Ireland to provide €6.26 million to support private sector entities accelerate provision of Alternative Energy Cooking Solutions targeting urban and peri-urban areas of Malawi
Press release
29nd November 2023
Government of Ireland signed a financing agreement running from 2022 to 2025 with United Nations Development Programme in Malawi (UNDP Malawi) to provide €6.26 million to support private sector entities de-risk investments in clean cooking solutions as alternatives to illegal and unsustainable charcoal in urban and peri-urban areas of Malawi. This will be provided through competitive grants under the Green Economic Transition Facility (GETF) designed and administered by UNDP Malawi. The overall goal of this intervention is to strengthen inclusive and sustainable business and entrepreneurship opportunities for addressing cleaner and more sustainable fuel and cooking alternatives in urban and peri-urban areas of Malawi to reduce deforestation. It contributes significantly to the Malawi Energy Compact[1] and SDG 7 among others.
Under the initiative, GETF will be offering co-financing ranging from minimum of $40,000 to maximum of $300,000 and up to $35,000 in technical assistance on demand for projects led by a private sector company with capacity to develop or scale up business solutions in the form of a Product, a Service, a Business Model or a Technology. It is anticipated that by the end of the project, 83,000 low income households in urban and peri-urban areas (30% being women) will have access to cleaner cooking fuels and in the process companies benefiting from this initiative will create 170 green permanent jobs. In addition, there will be a 10% increase in market share of sustainable biomass fuel sources replacing unsustainable and illegal charcoal.
“This support will help Malawi to conserve its forests which have been extensively destroyed through consumption of illegal charcoal in urban and peri-urban areas. It will help urban households to transition from these fuels to more sustainable options in addition to helping locally owned companies to create more jobs particularly for women and youth. Further, this is part of Ireland’s commitment to climate action,” says Séamus O’Grady, Irish Ambassador to Malawi.
The €6.26 million commitment is a continuation of Ireland’s previous commitments in the clean cooking sector in Malawi. Ireland also tested and successfully implemented innovative approaches for the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of stoves through Self Help Africa (formerly United Purpose).
Notes for the Editor
- The GETF challenges private sector to devise green business solutions and bring to market green products, services, and technologies that offer greater resource efficiency; embrace green and innovative distribution and logistics channels; adopt greener business operations and greener processing solutions; and bring to scale existing business models proven to be viable but challenged by lack of funding. It aims to deliver social and environmental impacts through job creation, income increase for the poor and reduction in CO2 emissions.
- The GETF is being managed by Landell Mills and Imani Development.
Contacts
For more information about Ireland in Malawi, visit: https://www.ireland.ie/en/malawi/lilongwe/
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/IrlEmbMalawi
For more information about GETF, visit: http://www.getfmw.org
or contact the Project Manager on Nduwa_Chunga@landell-mills.com.
[1] https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/09/2021-09-20_malawi_cleaner_cooking_energy_compact.pdf